![U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT] and Gov. Ned Lamont met with students to talk about online dangers and how to regulate social media.](https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WTIC/images/a4c7456d-6446-434d-835d-8104c869df00/20240920T220550/a4c7456d-6446-434d-835d-8104c869df00_1920x1080.jpg)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT] and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont met with local students Friday to talk about online dangers and how to regulate social media.
“I find the reels and the TikToks so funny, especially some of the newer trends are funny. And some of the dances, they’re like goofy and funny to learn, that I do with my friends,” explained Barnard Environmental Science & Technology School eighth-grader Nathaly Ynoa Martinez.
Like many of her friends, Martinez loves TikTok and Instagram.
“I get a lot of outfit inspiration, basketball clips, different stuff like that and dances, dancing videos, too,” said Tiranke Keita, a fellow eighth-grader at Barnard.
Martinez and Keita say there’s a dark side to these social media apps too.
“Fights, people doing harmful stuff to other people, stabbing and stuff,” Keita said.
“People will come at people’s races,” continued Martinez. “It’s just stupid, because like, you’re really blowing up off of negative stuff and not positive stuff.”
That’s why Blumenthal is trying to pass a new measure he says would make social media apps safer for kids.
“Year after year, the social media companies, they said to us, ‘Trust us, we’ll take care of it, we’ll protect the kids,’ and they didn’t do it,” Blumenthal added.
He says the Kids Online Safety Act would empower young people and parents with the tools and safeguards needed to protect themselves online, while holding big tech accountable for harms to kids.
“Imposing an obligation on those big companies that have the billions of dollars means maybe they’ll be a little more responsible,” said Blumenthal. “Young people themselves really want to take back their own lives.”
These students believe more protections would not only keep them safer but make the online experience a more positive one.
“Instead of thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to get bullied on this app,’ becoming a space you can feel comfortable in and stuff,” Keita continued.
The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate within a 91 to 3 vote back in July and just Wednesday it passed out of committee in the House.
Blumenthal says he’s seeing bipartisan support, hoping the bill will be brought for a vote in the next week. If not, he believes it can pass in the two months following the November election, before the end of this year.
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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