Marsha Blackburn (Republican from Tennessee) has some tips to help parents who are worried about their children’s online activities. There have been many stories about young people being pulled into dark rabbit holes, which can lead to serious consequences. These include sex trafficking and medical procedures that permanently alter their lives.
Blackburn has been warning about Big Tech for years. In 2021, she stated that companies use advanced data collection techniques to collect and analyze habits movements, and interests in order to create a virtual person that caters to advertisers. Children can suffer even more from this because they are always being monitored and analyzed.
Blackburn stated that Snapchat has exposed children to explicit content and predators through its products. “With millions upon millions of teens using Snapchat, disappearing messages and a list of all your contacts have made this a child predator’s paradise.”
She stated that it was important to ensure children aren’t exploited. “Social media is causing our children more distress than ever before.”
Social media is causing our children to become more distressed than ever before. We must pass privacy legislation to protect our kids from #BigTech. pic.twitter.com/13So3rotx9
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 18, 2021
Blackburn’s office released a guide to help you set clear boundaries with your children. Blackburn said she worked closely with professionals in the industry to inform parents of solid steps they can take this summer to make their children safer.
First, make sure that their information isn’t available online. Keep your children’s personal information private. This includes information such as full names, addresses, and other identifying information. It is a good idea to check with parents before you post anything on social media.
This parenting tip sheet also explains the #1 rule of the Internet: Never meet up with strangers. My family goes further. My children are not allowed to make friends online with anyone they haven’t met at school or through activities. You can’t get to know someone online if you don’t live with them in person.
He also advised parents to have a “don’t buy without my permission” conversation. Apple sent me a $400 bill a few months back after my son purchased so many Angry Birds gems. I don’t know how that is possible. It’s not possible, I don’t know. It happened. Apple was able to refund most of the money. This is an important message to them. Many games offer in-game purchasing. Apple allows you to turn on a setting that will require your permission before any game-playing purchases can be made. This setting is highly recommended.
Parents can now get all the help they need, and Senator’s suggestions are excellent. DELETE TIKTOK is the only one she’s missing. It is a Chinese spy app that leads our children down the dark streets of eating disorders and mental illness. This one is very dangerous.
