Biden plans to go after social media and kids’ mental health in SOTU speech

U.S. President Joe Biden will take goal at tech firms and talk about knowledge privateness and on-line security when he delivers the annual State of the Union tackle Tuesday night time, the White House mentioned.

During the speech, Biden will name for bipartisan help to ban focused promoting for youngsters and younger individuals on-line, and he’ll demand transparency about tech firms’ algorithms and the way they accumulate Americans’ private knowledge.

Biden will even argue it’s the duty of firms, not customers, to reduce the quantity of data they accumulate.

The White House mentioned social media firms usually don’t implement their phrases of service with respect to minors. Biden will talk about how his administration plans to construct on the surgeon common’s youth psychological well being advisory, the Department of Health and Human Services’ new Center of Excellence on Social Media and Mental Wellness, and the Children and Media Research Advancement Act.

Biden will even name for bipartisan help to impose limits on the non-public knowledge that tech firms are capable of accumulate, notably for delicate knowledge like well being data and geolocation, the White House mentioned.

The president’s stance Tuesday will echo his writing in a January op-ed, the place he argued that Congress must cross laws that locations new guardrails on the tech trade.

“We need bipartisan action from Congress to hold Big Tech accountable,” Biden wrote.

Biden’s name for bipartisanship on tech points is notable. The break up Congress will complicate the panorama for passing laws in any area. Biden’s resolution to concentrate on tech suggests it could be a uncommon space of hope for progress whereas working throughout the aisle.

Tuesday would be the first time since 2019 that the president and congressional leaders are permitted to carry visitors to the State of the Union tackle, which is attended by each member of the House and Senate, all 9 Supreme Court Justices, a lot of the president’s Cabinet, and the diplomatic corps. 

It will even be the first time Biden provides the historic speech earlier than a divided Congress after Republicans clinched management of the House in November’s midterm elections.

— CNBC’s Lauren Feiner contributed to this report.