Two senators have introduced a bipartisan bill to give parents “easy-to-use” tools to help them keep their kids safer online. Introduced by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the Kids Online Safety Act proposes to force online platforms to create ways parents and kids themselves can block harmful content and better control their feeds.
If passed, it will likely take some time for the bill, to have an effect. It’s welcome news, however, because the online threats to children continue to grow.
Dangerous new horizons
For example, there’s now another place online that may put kids in danger, if it hasn’t already.
Horizon World, a new virtual reality (VR) app from Meta (formerly Facebook), is supposedly for adults only, but a recent review of comments on the app’s site shows dozens of comments from adults complaining that the app is crowded with kids. Many of these commenters also worried that underage people who enter the VR world could be subject to sexual predators.
Sarah Gardner, vice president of external affairs at Thorn, a tech nonprofit that helps protect children from online sexual abuse, recently told The Washington Post that new online forums that attract children also attract sexual predators almost immediately.
“They see an environment that is not well protected and does not have clear systems of reporting,” she said. “They’ll go there first to take advantage of the fact that it is a safe ground for them to abuse or groom kids.”
Better safe than sorry
We can’t stress it often enough: It’s vital that you know what your child is doing online. It’s easier with younger kids, of course, because tweens and teens need a certain amount of privacy as they get older. But you can at least remind them often of the dangers they may face online, and let them know you’re there to help if they get into trouble.
Here are three websites we like that can provide useful tips:
