WASHINGTON (TNND) — In a last-minute legislative push before their August recess, on Wednesday, a group of senators advanced the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill intended to mark the beginning of the end of what’s been a dangerous – and sometimes deadly – digital environment for children.
In a last-minute legislative push before their August recess, on Wednesday, a group of senators advanced the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill intended to mark the beginning of the end of what’s been a dangerous – and sometimes deadly – digital environment for children. (TNND)
“We’re sending a message to Big Tech that the era of Big Tech profiting off of our children is over,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who first introduced KOSA in 2022 alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Sitting in the front row Wednesday while members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted to advance KOSA were parents who have lost a child, many to suicide, after problematic social media activity, like cyberbullying.
Included in KOSA are requirements that social media platforms make their most protective settings the default mode for accounts of minors, allow kids to opt out of recommendations based on personalized algorithms, provide parents with controls over their child’s account and a designated channel for them to report harmful behavior.
KOSA has gotten close to becoming law in the past. In 2024, it passed the Senate with near-unanimous support.
“And then it was killed in the House by some of the Big Tech influencers that don’t want to see this bill become law,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said.
Tech industry stakeholders aren’t the only ones who oppose KOSA – and not all of them do. Some civil rights advocates argue it would censor speech and violate privacy.
In a late-June letter to House lawmakers urging them to reject KOSA in a larger package of tech legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union said, “Age verification will severely jeopardize user privacy by turning droves of information over to platforms’ – who may or may not protect it adequately.”
The House ended up passing the legislation, but with a key difference from the Senate’s version of KOSA. The lower chamber did not include a provision known as “duty of care” that would require tech companies to actively evaluate and address the negative impacts their specific platform or service has on minors.
“We need more responsibility from social media companies and KOSA gives parents the tools that help make them accountable when they prioritize engagement over keeping our kids safe,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
House and Senate members will have to reach a compromise before KOSA can get to the president’s desk and become law.
President Donald Trump has not stated his official position on KOSA, but his son Donald Trump Jr. voiced support for it in 2024, as did Elon Musk.
