The Senate has passed two groundbreaking measures designed to increase safety and privacy online, protecting children from serious harm.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) have been described as “the most comprehensive pieces of legislation passed in decades” protecting children from the impact of social media, according to SCNR News.
KOSA will force online platforms frequented by minors to take “reasonable” precautions in their platform design and algorithms to protect children from dangers including suicidal behavior, cyber-bullying and sexual exploitation. These websites would also be forced to scale back any features that encourage children to increase the time they spend using the websites, such as rewards and alerts, which make these sites more addictive.
Today we achieved a massive and bipartisan victory in the Senate.
The Kids Online Safety Act passed with an overwhelming majority, 91-3.
This is a huge victory — for kids and especially parents.
Our legislation provides parents with better tools to protect their kids… pic.twitter.com/w5ChpWW6kE— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 30, 2024
The second piece of legislation, COPPA 2.0, prohibits advertising that specifically targets children, while also barring platforms from collecting minors’ personal data without parental consent.
In a statement, the sponsors of this measure, Sens. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), celebrated COPPA 2.0 as a “much-needed victory” for the future of American children.
“The Senate has sent a clear message that Big Tech’s days of targeting and tracking kids and teenagers online are over,” the statement read. “Enough with harmful targeted advertising. Enough with collecting deeply personal information on young people. Enough with ignoring the health and well-being millions of young people.”
The bills passed with a vote of 91-3, with one Democrat and two libertarian-leaning senators opposing the measures for privacy reasons and because they believe it prescribes more government censorship. The lawmakers who voted against the measure were Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT).
“Government mandates and censorship will not protect children online,” Paul wrote. “The internet may pose new problems but there is an age old solution to this issue. Free minds & parental guidance are the best means to protect our children online.”
Voting on KOSA today. Government mandates and censorship will not protect children online. The internet may pose new problems but there is an age old solution to this issue. Free minds & parental guidance are the best means to protect our children online. https://t.co/a5bZzopG5I
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2024
Meanwhile, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation praised the measures, celebrating them as “a monumental win for the safety of children online.”
#KOSA passing in the Senate is a monumental win for the safety of children online—it is the first time in 25 years that a federal bill on online child protection has been this close to passing! #PassKOSA #ProtectKidsOnline #BigTech pic.twitter.com/ufZeP8XhB8
— National Center on Sexual Exploitation (@NCOSE) July 30, 2024
The bills will now head to the House of Representatives, though there will be a long wait before they can be voted on because the chamber just began a six-week summer recess, which will end on September 9. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is still considering the legislation and has not yet scheduled a vote.
