WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) today celebrated the Energy and Commerce Committee’s advancement of their bipartisan Sammy’s Law Act, a bill requiring large social media companies to monitor for potentially dangerous online activity involving children under the age of 17.
Sammy’s Law is a bill safeguarding children online by informing parents about dangerous interactions on social media. The bill, which gives parents the choice to use third-party safety software to protect their children from harmful situations on social media, is named after Sammy Chapman, who, at the age of 16, was approached by a drug dealer on Snapchat and was unknowingly a victim of fentanyl poisoning.
“There are sick, evil people who prey on our children from the shadows of social media, selling illicit, even fentanyl-laced, drugs. Tragically, Sammy Chapman was one of those kids who died at just 16 years old, with his entire life ahead of him," said Rep. Carter. “Parents have the right to know when their child is engaging in dangerous online activity, and this bill will equip them with the best possible technology to protect and keep their children safe from bad actors. I urge a swift vote on the House floor on this critical, bipartisan legislation.”
“All parents worry about what their kids see or receive on social media. As a mother of three children who grew up with the world at their fingertips, I often feared what my children were exposed to online, especially through apps that profit from sharing messages intentionally designed to disappear or be hidden,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “I'm incredibly proud lead this bipartisan bill with my colleagues to give parents more tools to supervise their kids' online presence during the most vulnerable stages of their life.”
“Sammy's Law will save thousands of lives once it is passed. We are so pleased that it made it through the committee today,” said Samuel Chapman, father of Sammy Chapman. “It's an important step along the way to becoming the tool that allows parents to parent online.”
“One of the most effective ways for parents to protect children is by using third-party safety software, which provides alerts to families when dangerous content is shared through children’s social media accounts, enabling life-saving interventions at critical moments,” said Marc Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety. “Sammy’s Law will provide targeted protection for millions of children from the most serious of social media-related harms, like drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and sexual predation, among others.”
Read full bill text here.
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