Proposed bill would end “likes” for young teens’ online content

Back when yours truly was small, attempts to squeeze money out of children largely took place on TV, whether it was a half-hour Saturday morning toy commercial masquerading as a cartoon or local PBS affiliate fundraisers saying on-air after Sesame Street that kids should go tell their parents Big Bird will go away unless they donate. (My mother is still salty about that one.) In the year 2020, however, kids are using all the same devices their parents are but with even less filter on how to avoid being manipulated. Existing privacy legislation provides some protection for kids under 13, but it's limited—and has no provisions at all for protecting middle- and high school-aged kids, who are the most likely to have phones in their pockets and be power-users of new social apps as they pop up. To that end, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today proposed a new bill to limit manipulative marketing, dark patterns, and harmful content being pushed to younger users. The bill (PDF), called the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, tries to tackle the "non-transparent ways" digital media properties "ensure children interact with content that reflect the interests and goals of content creators, platforms, and marketers." Children, in this case, is defined as anyone under 16. Content "directed to children," in the bill, also gets a broad definition as anything targeted to users under 16 by:

• its subject matter
• its visual content
• the use of animated characters or child-oriented activities for children and related incentives
• music or other audio content
• the age of models used
• the presence of child celebrities or celebrities who appeal to children
• the language used
• advertising "used on, or used to advertise" the content

The broad definition seems designed to mitigate attempts to claim content is not for children, while also telling advertisers the audience for it is children, as the Federal Trade Commission accused YouTube of doing late last year. Use of "influencers," native advertising, and other tactics, including neuromarketing, is also explicitly covered in the bill. Platforms either targeting a designated audience or providing covered content would be prohibited from using tactics that promote prolonged engagement such as auto-play, push alerts, or displaying "the quantity of positive engagement or feedback that a covered user has received from other users"—so no "likes" on a teen's Instagram account. That goes for "badges or other visual award symbols" that show off engagement, such as awards for streaks on Snapchat. Additionally, covered entities would be forbidden to "amplify, promote, or encourage" covered users to engage with videos or other content promoting sexual material, gambling, or other vices generally reserved for the over-18 set. "Kids' faces are increasingly covered in the glow of their screens, and it's time to face the chilling reality that some websites and apps are built in ways that harm children," Sen. Markey said. "As a society, we're playing catch-up to the serious risks to kids online, and Congress has a responsibility to say loud and clear that Big Tech needs to get serious about the wellbeing of children and teens." Sen. Blumenthal echoed the sentiment, saying, "Generations of kids are growing up in online spaces besieged by the crass commercialization of social media influencers, tobacco companies, fast food, and alcohol brands. The KIDS Act puts guardrails in place to rein in recklessness of marketers and Big Tech–protecting children and giving parents some peace of mind." The proposed bill has support from several consumer groups, including the Center for Digital Democracy, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and Common Sense Media. Several provisions in the text relating to dark patterns and user engagement are similar to features in a bill Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced last year to combat social media addiction and "exploitative" practices that can exacerbate it. The overlap could mean that this bill stands a chance, however small, of getting enough bipartisan support to do something other than die forgotten in committee.