CDD urges Congress to adopt stronger online safeguards for kids and teens

Contact: Katharina Kopp, kkopp [at] democraticmedia.org

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), introduced by Senators Markey and Cassidy, will provide urgently needed online safeguards for children and teens. It will enact real platform accountability and limit the economic and psychological exploitation of children and teens online and thus address the public health crisis they are experiencing.

Meta’s Virtual Reality-based Marketing Apparatus Poses Risks to Teens and Others

Statement from Children’s Advocacy Groups on 
New Social Media Bill by U.S. Senators Schatz and Cotton

Washington, D.C., April 26, 2023– Several children’s advocacy groups expressed concern today with parts of a new bill intended to protect kids and teens from online harms.  The bill, “The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act,” was introduced this morning by U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tom Cotton (R-AR).

BOSTON, MA and WASHINGTON, DC — Friday, March 31, 2023 — Following a
groundbreaking investigation of Amazon’s Echo Dot Kids by Fairplay and Center for Digital
Democracy (CDD), the Federal Trade Commission is preparing to advance a case against
Amazon for the company’s violations of children’s privacy law to the Department of Justice.
According to new reporting from Politico, the case centers on Amazon’s violations of the
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) through its Alexa voice assistant.

Josh Golin, executive director, Fairplay:

“Acute Myeloid Lymphoma,” “ADHD,” “Brain Cancer,” “High Cholesterol,” “Lung Cancer,” “Overweight,” “Pregnancy,” “Rheumatoid Arthritis,” “Stroke,” and “Thyroid Cancer.” These are just a handful of the digitally targetable medical condition “audience segments” available to surveillance advertisers  While health and medical condition marketers—including pharmaceutical companies and drug store chains—may claim that such commercial data-driven marketing is “privacy-compliant,” in truth it reveals how vulnerable U.S.

Alcohol Marketers are now big data companies.  They are also commercial surveillance marketing enterprises, which is how data driven digital marketing is increasingly described by regulators and critics.  Like many other global industries, alcohol marketing uses an ever expanding set of diverse and sophisticated online and offline techniques designed to identify and deeply influence its target audiences.  Alcoholic beverage companies have broadly adopted the business model and tactics perfected by Google, Meta/Facebook, and Amazon.

Contact:

David Monahan, Fairplay david@fairplayforkids.org
Jeff Chester, CDD jeff@democraticmedia.org; 202-494-7100

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