In First SOTU, Biden Proposes Agenda Expanding Benefits, Limiting Harms of Tech
Proposals include kids’ mental health research, competitiveness, broadband investments
Mar 1, 2022

In his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden is expected to lay out a far-reaching tech agenda – including initiatives to expand access to technology’s benefits for all Americans while also working to limit its harms.

The President will announce new investments in research to study links between teen mental health and social media use and content; highlight his Administration’s efforts to expand broadband access; and call on Congress to pass competitiveness legislation that would boost microchip production in the United States.

“Americans want tech to work for them, not against them. That’s why Biden is focused on expanding access to tech’s benefits while reducing its potential harms,” said Chamber of Progress CEO Adam Kovacevich. “That means delivering broadband for everyone, bringing more tech jobs to more places, and investing in R&D. At the same time, the President recognizes where tech has fallen short, and his agenda calls for research into the link between kids’ mental health and social media use. There’s a reason these proposals are a part of Biden’s unity agenda: they’re important, they’re bipartisan, and they make sure tech is working for people.”

Chamber of Progress has endorsed Congressman Jamie Raskin’s Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act, legislation that would fund NIH research into kids’ mental health and social media use. At a social media hearing last fall, Chamber of Progress joined together with the Family Online Safety Institute to submit testimony calling on Congress to pass the CAMRA Act and investigate any link between children’s mental health and social media use.

Chamber of Progress has also called on Congress to pass USICA, a competitiveness bill that would boost microchip production in the U.S. and invest in R&D. The organization has opposed House changes to the bill that threaten to shut down small- and medium-sized online marketplaces.