US President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged US lawmakers to limit how social media companies lure children and collect their data, as he accused big tech of conducting a “for-profit” experiment on the nation’s youth.
“We need to finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they’re doing with our kids for profit,” Biden said during his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.
“And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop it Big Tech not collect personal information from children and young people online, ban advertising targeted at children, and impose tighter limits on the personal information companies collect about all of us.”
Biden’s remarks, which drew thunderous applause from members of both parties, were his final shot in front of Big Tech’s bow.
Highlighting the risks social media poses for Americans, the US president last month urged Republicans and his Democrats to break years of political deadlock and pass legislation that would rein in the power of US-based tech giants Apple, Google, Amazon And Facebook-Owner Meta.
Biden has repeatedly advocated for better protection of people’s online privacy and personal information.
The United States is lagging behind governments in Europe and Asia in crafting more modern rules to curb the power of the biggest tech companies.
In a January op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Biden said legislation could give regulators access to the algorithms that power social media and that lawmakers should reconsider an existing law barring tech companies from responsibility for the content of their websites releases.
There is bipartisan support for reforming this longstanding provision, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but disagreement among political parties over how to proceed.
Such an antitrust bill is seen as a long shot as Republicans — who took control of the House of Representatives last month after November’s election — are reluctant to thwart big business.
Big tech companies have worked hard in recent years to counter any legislative momentum in Washington.
