The United States is failing its children by failing to protect them from addictive products, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker Sunday.
“We’ve got to stop all of these intrusive addiction-for-profit companies from taking our kids hostage. That’s what they’re doing,” Kennedy charged. The solution, he added, is to fight.
Welker and Kennedy focused on the Kids Online Safety Act Sunday, which proponents argue would require social media platforms to take the safety of children under 16 more seriously. Concerns about censorship as a result of the proposed bill have been raised by both First Amendment advocacy groups and LGBTQ+ communities.
“Our country is falling down on its own responsibility as stewards to our children’s future. We are commercializing marijuana across the country,” Kennedy told Welker. “How in the world, with kids’ anxiety rates and depression rates, does it make sense to add to the addiction crisis by having more access — you know, access to addiction products?”
Sports betting is another problem, he added. “Our states are becoming addicted to the revenue of sports betting. And I can guarantee you, just like you’re playing that story about that young woman who’s getting targeted, we already know the algorithms for these betting companies are targeting people who are high risk. And we are gonna see a high correlation between people with gambling addiction and suicide.”
“And so what I’m saying, Kristen, is we can’t just pass these bills,” Kennedy added. “We’ve got to stop all of these intrusive addiction-for-profit companies from taking our kids hostage. That’s what they’re doing. This is a fight. And we are losing the fight because we’re not out there fighting for our kids to protect them from these businesses that their whole profit motive is, ‘How am I going to capture that consumer and lock them in as a consumer?’”
As Welker pointed out, the last time the issue of online safety and children was addressed by Congress was in 1998 when the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed. Welker noted the lengthy period of time that has transpired since and asked Kennedy why the issue hasn’t been addressed more frequently.
“Well, the power of the social media giants and their money, there’s going to be a bigger settlement by Meta and all the big social media companies than even was tobacco or Purdue combined,” he answered. “You know, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We, as a country, have seen these companies and industries take advantage of the addiction-for-profit. Purdue, tobacco. Social media’s the next big one. And unfortunately, it’s going to have to be litigated. We have to go after the devastating impact that these companies are having on our kids.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have called on Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. The proposed bill also had the support of former President Joe Biden, who wrote in July 2024, “There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis. Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson slowed the progress of the bill in December. “Look, I’m a lifelong advocate of protection of children…and online safety is critically important…but we also have to make sure that we don’t open the door for violations of free speech,” he advised Republicans at the time.
