The debate on who should prevent children harm online\u2013 tech companies or parents\u2013 sparked disagreement between some federal lawmakers and state attorneys general.<\/p>\n
In a recent letter of opposition<\/a>, attorneys general criticized the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) act<\/a> for not placing an enforceable \u201cduty of care\u201d on tech companies.<\/p>\n The letter was signed by attorneys general for 39 U.S. states and territories, including Pennsylvania\u2019s Dave Sunday and New York\u2019s Letitia James. A copy was sent to congressional leaders in Washington D.C..<\/p>\n The KIDS Act addresses data privacy, social media access, chatbots, online gaming, and other issues for minors online.<\/p>\n \u201cThe spirit of the idea is extremely important,\u201d said Dr. Tiffany Perticini, the co chair of Penn State Behrend\u2019s AI Taskforce.<\/p>\n Behind most of the bill\u2019s principals is an expansion of rights for parents to stay involved with their children\u2019s online activity.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the process of trying to do that, they\u2019re also reducing the accountability of the tech companies themselves,\u201d Perticini said.<\/p>\n Duty of care places the legal burden on tech companies to prevent children harms online, and could require them to change their designs and algorithms.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies can do that. They actually can design that way,\u201d Perticini said.<\/p>\n Specific changes could be age verification, or limiting doom scrolling.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we could create the tool that isn\u2019t going to try to get them to sit there for hours and click, click, click, click, click,\u201d Perticini said, \u201cor get stuck in the oddest scroll like the autumn play and the auto scroll, it would be so amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n