Following today’s House Energy and Commerce Committee markup and passage of the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, The Alliance for Secure AI CEO, Brendan Steinhauser, released the following statement:
“The provisions presented in the KIDS Act package are weak and do not protect America’s children as AI-enabled technologies, including chatbots, get smarter and more dangerous as a result. The KIDS Act would also preempt state authority to legislate on kids’ online safety – an issue states have been leading the way on as Congress continues to fail to act.
“America’s children are the most susceptible to risks posed by emerging technologies, and we are already seeing it play out in real time: children and teenagers using AI chatbots as their only companions, using them as therapists, and even being driven to take their own lives through emotional manipulation. The KIDS Act is nothing more than a liability shield for Big Tech companies that continue to develop advanced AI without accountability.
“Members of Congress must come back to the table to develop a real, bipartisan federal standard that truly protects our children and holds Big Tech responsible for AI’s harms and risks. Until then, states must be able to continue their lead on kids’ online safety.”
The KIDS Act isn’t ambitious enough and rips away states’ power:
- Unreasonably high burden of proof: The bill requires proof of “actual knowledge” before a company can be held liable for harms caused by their platforms – an unreasonably high bar that will allow platforms to easily avoid accountability.
- Stripped down harms list: The list of harms that platforms are required to protect against does not include the actual harms that we know are hurting our children: suicidal behaviors, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and addictive use.
- Preemption language that overrides more protective state law: The bill invalidates any state law that “conflicts with” its provisions, a standard that invites industry to engage in lengthy litigation against such laws, including those that offer more protection than the federal bill. This will create a ceiling, instead of a floor, for any legislation on child safety, including efforts to prevent future harms that AI technology will bring – including ones that we aren’t even aware of yet.
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