The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was first introduced in 2023; over a year later, with the August recess looming, the Senate is poised to vote on the bill. With 70 cosponsors, the bill appears likely to pass.
Proponents of the bill believe that the law is necessary to safeguard children from harm that could result from the platforms’ relentless quest for user attention. Critics argue that KOSA not only erodes internet freedoms but could also prevent minors — particularly LGBTQ minors — from accessing potentially lifesaving information.
The current text of KOSA creates a duty of care for platforms, requiring them to take reasonable steps to mitigate a specific list of harms to minors. Those include things like cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, and eating disorders.
On top of that, it would mandate certain kinds of parental tools, require the highest level of privacy settings to be on for kids by default, and let young users have a say in whether they get personalized recommendations, like through algorithmic feeds.
Regardless of what happens in the Senate, the House of Representatives is adjourning for the August recess ahead of schedule, and is set to return in mid-September. It’s difficult to pass legislation in September in an election year, so the ultimate fate of KOSA is very much up in the air.
Here’s all the news about KOSA:
————————————————
