Analysis/Opinion: Their kids’ deaths were tied to social media. They want Congress to act.

According to the Washington Post, a group of nine mothers who lost their children due to deaths related to social media are lobbying congress to update online privacy legislation.

Maurine Molak says her son David, then 16, took his own life after facing months of cyberbullying on social media platforms, which were slow to respond to their reports. 

“He could not make it stop. I couldn’t make it stop,” she said during an interview Tuesday.

Now, she and dozens of parents whose children died or were harmed due to incidents linked to social media are calling on Congress to step in and pass legislation that some say could have prevented their tragedies.   For the full WaPo story please click here:

Analysis: Fair to say that online privacy laws, and specifically children’s online protections, have never been updated to account for the massive influence of social media in our children’s lives. The best parenting strategy is to keep your kids off social media as long as possible. Instead, ask them to focus on experiencing life IRL (in real life). But this is a good step to raise awareness and hopefully Congress will take steps along the lines of what these moms are asking for.