TikTok Harms Investigated, Big Tech Actions Against Russian Media, Senate Passes Cyber Alert Bill
Attorneys general from across the nation will investigate TikTok to determine if the platform is harmful to minors.
Theadora Soter
March 3, 2022 – On Wednesday, a coalition of attorneys general from across the nation announced they will embark on an investigation into the impact social media platform TikTok has on children.
The bipartisan investigation, headed by Maura Healey, attorney general of Massachusetts, will focus on mental and physical harms TikTok may exacerbate in minors. The same coalition launched a similar investigation into Meta, the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram, in November.
The announcement comes just one day after President Joe Biden discussed the importance of children’s online safety at his first State of the Union address. “We must hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they’re conducting on our children for profit. It’s time to strengthen privacy protections; ban targeted advertising to children; demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children,” Biden said.
The Kids Online Safety Act, a bipartisan bill intended to protect children under the age of 16 from online threats, was introduced last month.
Big Tech responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Big technology companies have taken further suppressive actions against Russian media in the wake of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Twitter announced that it will comply with European Union sanctions on Russian state-controlled media by withholding such content from Twitter users in the member states. Furthermore, the streaming service Netflix announced it would be pausing all Russian-related “projects and acquisitions” while the invasion of Ukraine continues to take place.
In recent days, many big tech companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube have been forced to grapple with the current crisis in Ukraine in an effort to stop the spread of what they say is propaganda on their platforms.
These efforts have resulted in broadcasters and technology platforms removing Kremlin-backed media network RT and flagging unreliable posts while also removing Russian propaganda profiles from platforms.
Senate passes cyber notification legislation
The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that will require infrastructure companies to report both cyberattacks and ransomware attacks to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act of 2022, which is sponsored by Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich, requires companies to report cyberattacks the government within 72 hours and 24 hours to report that a ransomware payment has been made.
The Senate passing comes less than a week after the U.S. government placed sanctions on Russia as a result its invasion of Ukraine, causing concern that Russia may retaliate through cyberattacks on America.
The legislation must now get House approval and has backers in that chamber, including Yvette Clarke, D-New York, and John Katko, R-New York.
