ICYMI OP-ED: The Voices Behind the Kids Online Safety Act: Zamaan Qureshi

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, led by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), is strongly supported by a broad coalition of parents who have tragically lost their children or whose kids have been severely harmed by Big Tech, young people who want to regain control over their online lives, and experts and advocates who study and see the negative effects of social media firsthand in their communities. The “Voices Behind the Kids Online Safety Act” series will amplify their stories as they call on Congress to pass the legislation to help protect themselves online and to hold Big Tech accountable. The bill has the support of nearly half of the U.S. Senate.

Zamaan Qureshi

Read Zamaan’s full op-ed for The Messenger HERE and below

“As a young person who’s used Instagram and Facebook for over 10 years, I can say that unwanted sexual advances on these platforms are far from anomalies,” wrote Zamaan in his op-ed.

“When I was around 14 years old, I got a follow request and then a DM from someone who I thought was a real person. It was from an Instagram account that appeared to be legitimate — we had mutual followers, and they claimed to attend a school near me. Yet, it eventually became clear they didn’t talk the way my friends and I did,” Zamaan continued. “I collected screenshots, reported the account (and several duplicates that I had discovered), asked my friends to do the same, and waited. Days later, I got an update: My request to suspend the accounts was denied. According to Instagram, the multiple fake accounts and their suspicious behavior had ‘not violated Instagram's terms of service.’ In my case, Meta looked the other way, and this person — whoever it was — was given free rein to keep contacting and preying on kids like me.”

“The bottom line is that I and many other younger users have lost faith that Meta will make necessary changes to protect us — unless lawmakers hold them accountable. Thankfully, despite historic levels of political polarization and congressional dysfunction, over half of the U.S. Senate has coalesced around a bipartisan bill to protect young people online — the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). KOSA does a number of things, including requiring social platforms to ensure that young users have the strongest-by-default privacy settings, which include reporting mechanisms so teens’ reports of accounts that engage in exploitative behavior are not swept under the rug,” Zamaan wrote.

Blumenthal and Blackburn are the lead sponsors of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, which would provide kids and parents with better tools to protect themselves online, hold Big Tech accountable for harms to kids, and provide transparency into black box algorithms.

Read Zamaan’s full op-ed below:

“Last week, the Wall Street Journal unveiled yet another Meta whistleblower who described alleged alarming negligence on behalf of Meta in their efforts to keep kids safe online. Arturo Béjar, a former safety engineer, brought forward what he says is internal research from Meta that painted a grim picture: 1-in-8 users under the age of 16 said they experienced unwanted sexual advances on the platform. Instead of addressing the problem, Meta reportedly buried the evidence. Last Tuesday, Béjar was called to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on social media’s impact on the teen mental health crisis.

As a young person who’s used Instagram and Facebook for over 10 years, I can say that unwanted sexual advances on these platforms are far from anomalies. The reality for too many users is that social media apps seem to have normalized vulgar and unwanted sexual advances as nothing more than “sliding into someone’s DMs (direct messages),” and an expected — but dreaded — part of the social media experience. Many in my generation — but particularly young women — have endured so much of it that they become numb to it. They say, “If I block him, that could make him angry.” Or, “We have class together. I don’t want him to say something.”They not only fear further harassment but also for it to potentially escalate off the platform, even in the form of physical violence.

This steady drumbeat of sexual harassment online has helped usher in what is called “sextortion,” a form of manipulation in which people — including kids — are blackmailed or extorted into sending money or nude photos to someone they met online. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, sextortion spiked nearly 98% from 2019 to 2020.

You would think social media platforms are working overtime to keep harassers and potential predators away from kids, but they seem to be doing the opposite and making it more difficult to report abuse.

In fact, CNN recently reported on allegations of Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s repeated vetoes of initiatives said to be designed to improve the well-being of young people on Meta’s platforms.

Although I’ve spent the past three years advocating for tech reform, I’ve struggled to share my own story about what so many of us experience.

When I was around 14 years old, I got a follow request and then a DM from someone who I thought was a real person. It was from an Instagram account that appeared to be legitimate — we had mutual followers, and they claimed to attend a school near me. Yet, it eventually became clear they didn’t talk the way my friends and I did. It was only after exchanging many messages that I realized whoever was on the other side of the account wasn’t who they claimed to be. Upon recognizing what I potentially had saved myself from, I set out to make sure others wouldn’t fall for this account.

I collected screenshots, reported the account (and several duplicates that I had discovered), asked my friends to do the same, and waited. Days later, I got an update: My request to suspend the accounts was denied. According to Instagram, the multiple fake accounts and their suspicious behavior had “not violated Instagram's terms of service.” In my case, Meta looked the other way, and this person — whoever it was — was given free rein to keep contacting and preying on kids like me.

The ordeal created feelings of fear and embarrassment that, combined, sent me spiraling, asking myself what could have happened or how did i not see the red flags?

My women-identifying friends are much more open about talking about this kind of stuff. Yet, for many young men, the toxic norms of masculinity (exacerbated by many influencers on social media) make it harder and likely result in the actual number of experiences like mine being far higher than what is reported.

So, when Béjar made the findings of his Bad Emotional Experience Findings (BEEF) survey of Meta public last week, I was not surprised at the statistics. Nor were my friends.

When Béjar went to Zuckerberg and Instagram executive Adam Mosseri with the findings of his BEEF survey, he was reportedly undermined and ignored. First, he was told to sanitize his results. When his findings were sent to his colleagues, the team responsible for addressing these problems reportedly got laid off. Even after the survey results were recognized, Meta's actions resulted in a process that appears to actually make it harder for young users to report harassment — which looks to me like a tactic to improve their internal metrics if the more cumbersome process lowers the number of reports filed.

The bottom line is that I and many other younger users have lost faith that Meta will make necessary changes to protect us — unless lawmakers hold them accountable. Thankfully, despite historic levels of political polarization and congressional dysfunction, over half of the U.S. Senate has coalesced around a bipartisan bill to protect young people online — the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). KOSA does a number of things, including requiring social platforms to ensure that young users have the strongest-by-default privacy settings, which include reporting mechanisms so teens’ reports of accounts that engage in exploitative behavior are not swept under the rug.

I’ve been involved in the policymaking conversations around KOSA since the bill’s first introduction in 2022. Refining the bill has been an iterative process and has included input from many advocacy organizations and community groups to ensure KOSA fulfills its goal of protecting kids online without unintended consequences. Some LGBTQ+ groups, in particular, have raised serious concerns about the legislation, and have helped the bill’s sponsors meaningfully address their concerns.

Not surprisingly, many social media giants oppose the bill. Big Tech, identifying critiques of KOSA as an apparent opportunity to stave off legislation, has exacerbated the growing pains that any bill would go through. The industry seems to be attempting to paint a fundamentally flawed dichotomy: Choose between safe tech or LGBTQ+ kids. But that’s not the case. Progressive stalwarts and champions of LGBTQ+ rights like Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and many more are co-sponsoring the legislation. Fundamentally, this is not a partisan bill nor a partisan issue — Americans from all across the political spectrum want kids to be able to develop free from exploitation and manipulation online. A whopping 86% of voters support congressional action, and 82% believe social media platforms should be required to take concrete steps to protect young people online, according to a poll by Accountable Tech.

KOSA is a strong starting point that finally puts the onus on Big Tech companies to prevent harm to kids. Navigating and exploring my sexuality while not knowing who to trust online was particularly difficult, and I know I’m not the only one fighting through this.

We cannot let the Big Tech manipulate the debate and pit us against one another. If Meta whistleblowers aren’t enough, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) should listen to the voices of young people instead. It’s time to bring KOSA to a vote in the Senate — and hold Big Tech accountable.”

Zamaan Qureshi is the co-chair of the youth-led coalition Design It For Us and a policy adviser for the Real Facebook Oversight Board.

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