VIDEO RELEASE: Senator Moody Fires Off on Lawmakers Who Refuse to Protect Children Online: “Get out of the Way”

Home How Can I Help? News Contact Us Share Your Opinion Federal Nominations Scheduling Request About Search for: Home How Can I Help? News Contact Us Share Your Opinion Federal Nominations Scheduling Request About All News VIDEO RELEASE: Senator Moody Fires Off on Lawmakers Who Refuse to Protect Children Online: “Get out of the Way” May 14, 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ashley Moody wasted no time yesterday getting right to the heart of the problem with stalled legislation that would increase protections for children online at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The witnesses at the hearing included two parents of children who lost their lives due to the persistent dangers that lurk online and on social media platforms: “To any lawmaker that stands to shield these profit-over-protection companies from accountability for the harm they’ve brought to our children: get out of the way. As a mom, I understand the challenges parents face every single day when it comes to protecting their kids online. These online platforms should not be using our kids as a piggy bank for their next quarterly earnings call, which is why as Attorney General I fought to end these abusive practices and shut down intentionally designed features that addict our kids. I held social media companies’ feet to the fire as Attorney General, and I won’t stop as Florida’s newest U.S. Senator,” said Senator Ashley Moody . BACKGROUND: Sen. Moody is dedicated to protecting children from harm online. Earlier this year, Senator Moody’s James T. Woods Act protecting kids by targeting perpetrators of sextortion passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Act explicitly criminalizes intentional threats to distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Under current law, sextortion has fallen outside existing CSAM statutes, forcing prosecutors to rely on patchwork charging theories that fail to reflect the gravity of these crimes. Senator Moody cosponsors the Kids Online Safety Act . The Kids Online Safety Act is crucial legislation that protects children from online harm. Senator Moody first called for Congress to pass the legislation as former Florida Attorney General. As Florida’s newest U.S. Senator, Moody is a cosponsor of the legislation. Key provisions of the bill include: Mandatory default safety settings: Requiring platforms to automatically enable their strongest safety protections for minors rather than burying these features behind opt-in screens; Addiction prevention: Allowing young users and their parents to disable manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations that keep children endlessly scrolling; and Parental empowerment: Providing parents with new tools to identify harmful behaviors and improved capabilities to report dangerous content. Senator Moody has long been committed to protecting children online. As the former Florida Attorney General, Senator Moody launched investigations into Meta and Instagram, as well as took legal action, over the platform’s algorithms and practices that sought to addict children to using the service and then profit off the children’s data. As Attorney General, Senator Moody also called Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify to the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking about Meta applications allowing traffickers to prey on victims using the platform. Moody also released the Online Safety Toolkit to help parents talk to children about safe internet use and to avoid online predators and traffickers. # # # Join the Newsletter Email Address First Name Last Name Follow Follow Follow Follow Copyright 2024 Follow Follow Follow Follow Usage Policy PDF Help Privacy Policy Senate.gov