In 2021, Sammy Chapman was 16 years old, a straight-A student, and getting ready to apply for college. Like most parents, Samuel Chapman and Dr. Laura Berman worked hard to keep Sammy away from dangerous people and places — but they had no idea that drug dealers were preying on kids through Snapchat and social media platforms.
Or that drugs could be delivered to their house as easily as a pizza.
One night, a drug dealer connected with Sammy on Snapchat. Sammy returned to his bedroom with a drug that unknowingly contained a lethal dose of fentanyl. Tragically, he didn’t realize what he was taking, and it cost him his life.
Sammy’s death prompted his parents to create Sammy’s Law — a proposed measure that would require social media companies to integrate with child safety apps. What is Sammy’s Law, and why is now the time for lawmakers to act? Let’s discuss.
Sammy’s Law (H.R. 5778) would require social media companies to work with child online safety apps, empowering parents to more effectively monitor their children’s online activities.
Currently, social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok prevent parents from having full access to their child’s online activities. While these platforms claim to offer parental controls, they often don’t address serious risks, such as enabling strangers to communicate with minors. For example, Snapchat allows parents to see who their kids are messaging, and Instagram defaults teen accounts to private. But parents can’t see what kinds of messages their kids receive or what appears on their feeds.
Some child safety apps are able to show parents more detail about worrisome content. But oftentimes, social platforms don’t allow third-party apps to access important information. Parents are left in the dark about potential dangers like cyberbullying, predators, and drug solicitation in their child’s messages and activity.
Sammy’s Law seeks to change that by requiring social media companies to integrate with third-party safety apps.
Sammy’s Law is a bipartisan effort that addresses a critical gap in online child safety. While many platforms offer limited parental control features, they often fall short in identifying serious threats.
By allowing third-party apps to access social media data, parents can receive alerts about potentially harmful content, enabling timely interventions. For instance, if a child is exposed to self-harm content or dangerous drug offers, a safety app could notify the parents, helping to prevent tragic outcomes like Sammy’s.
Sammy’s Law would:
This integration would drastically change the landscape of social media monitoring.
Sammy’s Law gives parents the ability to be alerted to concerning content and interactions, without having to look through every individual message or post. Currently, platforms like Snapchat offer minimal parental review, focusing on general tools that don’t provide real-time alerts for serious issues. With Sammy’s Law, parents would have more options to effectively understand their children’s activity and interactions online.
Parents can support Sammy’s Law by:
Sammy’s Law represents a crucial step in protecting children in the digital age. By requiring social media companies to work with third-party safety apps, it empowers parents to play an active role in their children’s online safety. More effective parental monitoring has the potential to save lives, which makes this legislation a significant and necessary development.
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