Bipartisan, Bicameral Group Introduces Bill to Study Device Impacts on Kids

A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would direct the National Institutes of Health to research technology’s impact on kids. The Children and Media Research Advancement Act would authorize $15 million for FY 2019-21 and $25 million each for 2022 and 2023 to study effects of mobile devices, computers, social media, applications, websites, TV, movies, artificial intelligence, videogames and virtual reality. The lawmakers are Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Ben Sasse, R-Neb.; Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; and Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Reps. John Delaney, D-Md., and Ted Budd, R-N.C. This “will inform parents and policymakers about how best to protect American children’s bodies and minds from issues such as tech addiction, bullying, and depression,” said Markey. Common Sense CEO James Steyer said that “parents urgently need independent scientific research into the impacts on our kids of growing up online.”