Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts Democrat, has introduced a package of three bills aimed at tightening oversight of social media platforms, expanding safeguards for children, and taxing advertising revenue from major tech companies to fund education initiatives. Auchincloss, a longtime critic of Big Tech, believes that social media corporations are the most wealthy and powerful corporations in history and have been negatively impacting civil discourse and the well-being of children. He has named the bills the UnAnxious Generation package, targeting social media corporations’ legal immunity, the time teens spend on their apps, and the money they make from advertising to children.
The first bill in Auchincloss’s package is the bipartisan Deepfake Liability Act, co-sponsored with Utah Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy. This bill revises Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides broad immunity for digital platforms hosting user-generated content. The Deepfake Liability Act would make this immunity conditional on establishing a duty of care to address issues such as deepfake porn, cyberstalking, and digital forgeries. It also clarifies that AI-generated content is not covered under Section 230, and mandates that platforms remove harmful content within 48 hours of receiving a report.
Auchincloss’s second bill in the package aims to address the time teens spend on social media apps, particularly targeting the impact on children’s mental health and well-being. The bill would implement safeguards to limit the amount of time children can spend on social media, as well as require platforms to provide tools for parents to monitor and control their children’s usage. This bill is designed to protect children from the negative effects of excessive screen time and social media exposure.
The third bill in Auchincloss’s package focuses on taxing advertising revenue from major tech companies to fund education initiatives. By targeting the immense wealth that social media corporations generate from advertising to children, Auchincloss aims to use this revenue to support educational programs and initiatives that benefit young people. This bill seeks to hold tech companies accountable for their role in targeting children with advertising and using their platforms to profit off of youth engagement.
Overall, Auchincloss’s UnAnxious Generation package of bills addresses various aspects of social media regulation, from legal immunity and content removal to safeguarding children’s well-being and funding education initiatives. By targeting the core assets of social media corporations, Auchincloss hopes to enact meaningful change and protect the next generation from the negative impacts of excessive social media use and exploitation by tech companies.
