Calling for more accountability to keep kids safe online. The leaders of major social media platforms will testify Wednesday before senators on the dangers kids face.
Watching closely will be an Enfield mother who’s suing some of the companies for her daughter’s death.
“We are the voice for these kids that are lost, who are gone now. They don’t have a voice for themselves, so we have to be that voice," Tammy Rodriguez said.
A voice Rodriguez never planned on becoming. Her 11-year-old daughter Selena took her life in the summer of 2021. Selena’s sister recalled struggles with social media.
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“There were multiple occasions where she did become violent because we did try to separate her from the social media piece. So, it really did become an addiction for her,” Destiny Rodriguez said.
The Rodriguez family will be in Washington when several big tech companies including Meta, Snapchat and Discord testify before senators about the online dangers for kids.
“We just want to make sure that these companies hold people accountable and keep our children safe,” Destiny Rodriguez said.
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Some federal lawmakers are taking action. Senator Richard Blumenthal is co-sponsoring the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) which would set guidelines protecting kids using social media. This includes giving parents tools to supervise their child’s use online.
In a statement, Snapchat said it supports the bill:
"Protecting the privacy and safety of young people on Snapchat is a top priority, and we support the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Many of the provisions in KOSA are consistent with our existing safeguards: we set teens’ accounts to the strictest privacy settings by default, provide additional privacy and safety protections for teens, offer in-app parental tools and reporting tools, and limit the collection and storage of personal information. We look forward to continuing to work closely with lawmakers on this important legislation.”
Discord declined to comment on the bill, but says:
“Keeping our users safe, especially young people, is central to everything we do at Discord. We have been actively engaging with the Committee on how we can best contribute to this important industry discussion. We welcome the opportunity to work together as an industry and with the Committee.”
Rodriguez is suing Meta and Snapchat over their alleged roles in her daughter’s death. She feels big tech companies should still do more to ensure other parents won’t have to deal with the pain she’s going through.
“It can't be just a temporary fix. This needs to be something permanent,” she said.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, also declined comment, but says it’s been developing tools and resources to protect kids and support parents.
We also reached to TikTok and “X,” formerly known as Twitter for comment, but didn’t hear back.
