by KATE KAYE
Facebook has provided few details about its mission to introduce a kids-aimed version of Instagram, but the company is under fresh scrutiny as a prominent critic of that plan, Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, unveiled a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that would update the United States’ children’s privacy law.
The proposed legislation would expand the age range of children covered under the law and strengthen federal oversight of internet services aimed at kids. It also comes on the heels of a call on May 10 for Facebook to end its kids’ Instagram project from attorneys general of more than 40 U.S. states, among other recent pushback against the plan from lawmakers and child safety advocates.
Below is an overview of the bill updating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and why Markey and other lawmakers and regulators are pushing back on Instagram for kids.
First, here’s what the bill would do:
- New bipartisan legislation — cosponsored by Markey along with Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican — would update COPPA by prohibiting internet firms from collecting personal information from anyone aged 13 to 15 without the person’s consent and establishing a so-called Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Minors that would limit the collection of personal information from teens.
- If adopted, the law would ban targeted advertising directed at children.
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