Big Tech-funded groups try to kill bills to protect children online

Federal efforts to pass children’s online safety protections have languished amid disagreements between House and Senate leaders about which proposals to rally around. State officials have rushed to fill the void with a wave of their own bills, including proposals in Maryland and half a dozen other states requiring tech companies to vet their products for risks to children before rolling them out. But the push has faced broad opposition from tech trade groups representing some of the United States’ biggest digital platforms, who have blitzed statehouses around the country in an effort to stymie the bills, even as many of their member or partner companies including Amazon remain largely silent. Tech groups including NetChoice, CCIA, and the Chamber of Progress have fired off letters warning about the potentially catastrophic impact of the bills on user privacy and free speech online, deployed lobbyists to meet with key state officials, and sent their leaders to testify in opposition to the efforts in Maryland, Minnesota, and Nevada, among other states — part of a widespread campaign to neutralize the budding regulatory push. Supporters of the proposed legislation, which they say is necessary to prevent children from being exposed to addictive social media features and other harmful designs, say the tech groups’ lobbying has at times relied on misleading or deceptive tactics aimed at stoking confusion about what the proposals do.