VOA新闻杂志--加州可能会要求社交媒体对儿童的不良影响负责

California Might Hold Social Media Responsible for Bad Effects on Children

 The American state of California might soon hold social media companies responsible for harming children who have become addicted¹ to their products.

Under a new bill that recently passed the state Assembly, parents could bring legal action against the likes of Instagram and TikTok for up to $25,000 for harming their children.

The bill defines "addiction²" as children under 18 who are both harmed by social media and who want to stop or reduce time spent on social media, but they cannot. The bill suggests the harm can be physical, mental, emotional, developmental, or material.

Business groups have warned that if the bill becomes a law, social media companies would most likely stop operations for children in California rather than face the legal risk.

The bill would only apply to social media companies that had at least $100 million in total sales in the past year. The move appears to aim at large social media companies like Facebook and others that control the marketplace.

The bill would not apply to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu or to companies that only offer email and text messaging services.

Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham was the creator of the bill. Cunningham used the term unfettered, meaning unrestrained or without limits, to describe how he views current social media use.

"The era of unfettered social experimentation³ on children is over and we will protect kids," he said.

Monday's vote was an important — but not final — step for the bill. The bill now heads to the state Senate, where it will be the subject of hearings and discussions among lawmakers and the bill's supporters and opponents.

The bill gives social media companies two paths to escape responsibility in the courts. If the bill becomes law, it would take effect on January 1. Companies that remove features that are considered addictive⁴ to children by April 1 would not be responsible for damages.

Also, companies that do regular reviews of their policies to identify and remove features that could be addictive to children would not be subjected to legal actions.

Despite those conditions, business groups have opposed the bill. TechNet, a group of technology leaders, wrote to lawmakers that if the bill becomes law, companies would end operations for children under 18.

"There is no social media company, let alone any business, that could tolerate that legal risk," the group wrote.

Lawmakers appeared willing to change the part of the bill that permits parents to take legal actions against companies. But they did not present any idea about what to do instead.

Assemblymember Ken⁵ Cooley said as a lawyer he normally opposes bills that create more opportunities for lawsuits⁶. But he said lawmakers must "change the dynamics⁷ of what is surrounding us, surrounding our kids."

"We have to do something," he said. "If it doesn't turn out right, we can modify as we go along."

Words in This Story

addicted – adj. unable to stop doing something that is harmful; having an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something — usually + to

streaming – n. computers: playing continuously as data is sent to a computer over the Internet

review – n. an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone : examination or inspection⁸

tolerate -- v. to experience something without being harmed

dynamic – n. the way that two or more people behave with each other because of a particular situation; something that causes change or growth in something else

modify – v. to change some parts of (something) while not changing other parts

1 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

2 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

3 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

4 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

5 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

7 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

8 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。