The Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, is a newly reintroduced legislation aimed at improving the mental health and safety of children by imposing restrictions on tech companies. Although it is gaining support in Congress, civil liberties groups are increasingly opposing it, arguing that the bill would undermine free speech and online privacy protections.
Under KOSA, platforms would be required to prevent users under 17 from accessing content that promotes harmful behaviors like eating disorders and suicide. They would also need to provide parents with tools to monitor their children's platform use, including safety settings. Additionally, companies would have to allow independent audits and grant academic researchers access to data to better understand how social media is affecting young people.
The latest version of KOSA, which was first introduced by Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee last year, specifies the duty of care aspect to only apply to tech companies for harms such as eating disorders, suicide, and data collection. Furthermore, the bill includes explicit protections for support services like suicide help hotlines, schools, and educational software.
“I think our bill is clarified and improved,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said at a press conference Tuesday that also included groups and parents supporting the bill. “We’re not going to solve all of the problems of the world with a single bill but we are making a measurable, very significant start.”
Several advocacy groups, including the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Fairplay, along with parent and youth advocates, have expressed their support for KOSA legislation. During a press conference, parents who lost their children in social media-related incidents also spoke in favor of the bill. However, some critics of the bill have argued that the proposed changes do not address their concerns.
“If an attorney general wants to argue that trans kids talking about going to a protest is making other kids depressed, they can do that,” says Fight for the Future director Evan Greer.
Additionally, the bill does not provide clear guidelines on what counts as mitigation or prevention resources, leaving companies at risk of liability or discouraging them from recommending content on that topic. In the past, companies have been shown to opt for the latter option in similar situations, as demonstrated by the passage of SESTA-FOSTA in 2018.
“There are two fatal flaws in this bill,” said Greer. “One is a misunderstanding of how platforms will react to this liability and the other is a fundamental misunderstanding of how technology works.”
The group requested a meeting with Blumenthal's office to discuss their concerns, but their requests were ignored. Blumenthal's office did not respond to the question about the meeting requests. The ACLU, which Blumenthal said the lawmakers had met with, also still opposes the law.
“KOSA’s core approach still threatens the privacy, security and free expression of both minors and adults by deputizing platforms of all stripes to police their users and censor their content under the guise of a ‘duty of care,'” said Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at ACLU. “KOSA would be a step backwards in making the internet a safer place for children and minors.”
Despite its critics, the bill appears to be outpacing other online safety efforts in Congress. The bill now has over 30 cosponsors in the Senate, more than double the last time it was introduced. Blumenthal says that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., backs the legislation and a vote is a question of timing. “I fully hope and expect to have a vote this session,” Blumenthal said.
“Giving extremist governors the power to decide what content is safe for kids online is a nonstarter,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote in a statement to CyberScoop. “However, I share the sponsors’ goal of making the internet safer for children and appreciate the bill’s effort to limit addictive design features targeted at children. I urge my colleagues to focus on elements that will truly protect kids, rather than handing MAGA Republicans more power to wage their culture war against kids.”
The proposed KOSA bill, which aims to enhance children's safety, does not have a counterpart in the House and may face opposition from younger and more progressive members. It is one of many bills focused on children's safety that has garnered attention from civil society groups, with KOSA receiving the most support. Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to discuss another bill, the EARN IT Act, which seeks to prevent online exploitation of children but has raised concerns about its potential impact on free speech and encryption.
A coalition of 132 organizations has written to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin and ranking member Lindsey Graham, urging them to reject the bill. Durbin has also introduced similar legislation, the STOP CSAM Act, but it is not expected to be discussed this week.
Additionally, a new bill introduced by a Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. would prohibit social media for children under 13 and require parental consent for those under 18.