U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered her opening statement at a markup of kids online safety bills in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 5. Cantwell apologized for arriving late due to historic wildfires in Washington State and thanked staff members Stephanie Lieu and Lila Helms for their service to the committee.
Cantwell said, “Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and sorry to be late to the hearing, but the State of Washington is facing historic fires. In fact, we [have] the highest risk fires in the nation and the highest resource. And we were on a call with the various Ag Secretary, DOI, and many people trying to get a plan for continuing to address the wildfires in Spokane and throughout Washington State.” She also recognized Lieu’s contributions: “I so appreciate her hard work over these many years…so want to basically thank Stephanie for that and for her leadership.” On Helms’ service, she said: “So clearly the many, many things that we’ve been able to make happen in the Senate Commerce Committee could not have happened without her help and contribution…”
Turning attention to legislative matters at hand during this session—held by a committee responsible for reviewing legislation related to commerce, science and transportation within Congress, according to the official website—Cantwell outlined five bills under consideration as well as Coast Guard promotions. She expressed support for four measures aimed at protecting children from harm associated with social media use or artificial intelligence technologies.
Cantwell referenced personal stories from families affected by fentanyl poisoning linked with social media platforms: “In my state…Sophia Humphries, Brillion Lynch, and Avery Ping…lost their lives to fentanyl poisoning after obtaining pills through a dealer they met on Snapchat.” She added that parents recently signed a letter urging passage of strong legislation.
Discussing specific proposals such as The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), Cantwell said it would impose duties of care on social media companies: “It imposes a duty of care on social media platforms so that these companies have to take reasonable care…” KOSA would also require protective default settings for minors using covered platforms.
Other bills mentioned included The Chatbot Act—which provides parents options regarding AI chatbot usage—and Senator Markey’s Youth AI Privacy Act requiring safe design features for minors interacting with chatbots. Cantwell highlighted concerns about risks posed by AI-enabled toys addressed by Senator Duckworth’s Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act.
Concluding her remarks about pending legislation like The SCREEN Act from Senators Lee and Curtis—which she could not support as written—Cantwell said she looked forward to further collaboration: “But I look forward to working with my colleagues in the future…”