Kids Code bill designed to protect Minnesota children from harmful online content

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Protecting children online is the aim of a bill working its way through the Minnesota legislature this week.

Under the Kids Code bill, the idea is for companies providing content online, especially social media, to do a better job of keeping children away from predators, drug dealers and anyone else who would do them harm.

Snapchat is where two members of a Hastings family found trouble. Devin Norring died at 19 years old after accidentally overdosing on fentanyl he arranged to buy on the app.

His mother says a second child had a more recent run-in on Snapchat even as she traveled the state, fighting to force social media companies to rein in potentially harmful content.

"Right now social media companies are allowed to have a business model where our children, their most valuable users, are their most lucrative product," said mother Bridgette Norring.

Children and parents told the House Commerce Committee that social media algorithms lead teens into an escalating degree of danger — from image issues to self-harm videos to predators and pedophiles.

A proposed bill would require websites and apps used by children to make sure they’re not accessing material that’s likely to cause physical or financial harm or severe emotional distress.

Tech companies don’t like it.

"While well-intentioned, the proposed amendment remains fundamentally flawed from a legal perspective and a policy perspective," said Amy Bos of NetChoice. "An unconstitutional law protects no one, including kids."

They say a similar bill in California was deemed an unconstitutional First Amendment violation. But advocates say they’re addressing those issues while also protecting children.

They point out the suicide rate among teens was falling in the years before social media, but it’s doubled since 2008 for children aged 13 and 14.

"Today’s Big Tobacco is Big Tech and the Big Lie is that there’s no proof between social media harming our children’s mental health and increases in suicidal ideation," said Erich Mische of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education.

The bill still has a long way to go, and Republicans asked the Democratic author for some clearer definitions but said they generally support the idea.