Washington, D.C. – The fight to hold Big Tech companies accountable for their part in harming a generation of children is at a pivotal moment. Juries in New Mexico and Canada, for the first time, found that social media companies have designed their products to addict minors, damaging their mental health while exposing them to appalling harms.
Big Tech cannot be trusted to regulate itself. These verdicts prove the courts can punish past harms, but only Congress can prevent future ones.
To finally hold social media companies accountable and enforce guardrails in the virtual space, my Kids Online Safety Act would establish a duty of care for Big Tech that would require these companies to design their products for safety and mitigate certain harms to children, including sexual abuse, illicit drugs, and the promotion of suicide and eating disorders, on their platforms. KOSA would also provide parents with tools to protect their children, including options to disable addictive product features.
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I look forward to working with all of my congressional colleagues to send President Trump a bill that finally puts the safety of America’s children ahead of Big Tech’s bottom line.
Read my weekly column here.
Weekly Rundown
On Monday, I visited Northview Middle School in Newbern, Tennessee. The students there were excited to show me the projects they have been working on all year. I was also able to participate in a Q&A with them and take a tour led by students and administrators. These students were excited to show off this year’s latest designs in drones, mini-cars, and more. Northview Middle School is doing a fabulous job preparing the next generation for exciting careers and encouraging young people to be involved in STEM. What I saw at Northview Middle School was very encouraging for the community as well as the whole state of Tennessee. Read more here.
This week, I wrote a letter to the IRS following reports that Planned Parenthood affiliates are trying to “attract a new clientele” by offering neurotoxin injections similar to Botox and other aesthetic treatments while operating as tax-exempt charitable organizations. This comes after Republicans established a restriction on federal Medicaid funding for tax-exempt community abortion providers in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. Read more here.
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Improving Access to Care for Rural Veterans Act would put veterans first by ensuring they have access to high-quality and timely treatment closer to home. I’m thrilled to see this pass through committee, and I’m looking forward to its passage in the Senate, which will better support veterans in Tennessee by making the care they’ve earned more accessible. Read more here.
Marsha’s Roundup
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ICYMI
- If your passport has expired, you can attend the Knoxville Congressional Passport Fair happening on April 15 and 16 at the Knox County Health Department. Be sure to book your appointment and bring the required materials. Learn more about this here.
- Last week, I introduced my Rural Health Agenda. This legislation targets key areas of reform, including the recruitment of health professionals, the delivery of urgent care and emergency triage services, and the flawed Medicare Area Wage Index that results in rural hospitals receiving lower payment rates. Read more here.
- It was great to join President Trump for his visit to Memphis and celebrate the successes of the Memphis Safe Task Force. Read more in my weekly column here.
- I introduced the American Innovation Act to spur new business innovation for driven entrepreneurs. This bill would expand tax incentives for offsetting startup costs and remove initial barriers for creating new businesses to help Tennesseans invest in their communities and grow their local economies. Read more here.
