The House passed a
sprawling package of kids online safety bills Monday night, marking the first time a version of the landmark Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) made it out of the lower chamber.
The House passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act in a 267-117 vote, with 47 members not voting.
The package, taken from portions of 14 digital safety bills, was brought to the floor Monday under a fast-track process called suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds majority support for passage.
It now heads to the Senate, where it will
face an uphill battle over the House’s changes made to KOSA and other provisions. The bill includes provisions on age verification, AI chatbots, data protections and raising awareness about drug sales on social media.
Its passage comes just one week after House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) announced the KIDS package received new support from ranking member Rep.
Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), months after negotiations first fell apart between the two parties.
The bipartisan deal notably still eliminated KOSA’s duty of care provision, which would have legally required platforms to “exercise reasonable care” to prevent harms to minors. Harms include eating disorders, suicide, substance use disorders and sexual exploitation.
Tech watchdog and parent advocate groups, along with KOSA Senate co-authors
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and
Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
argue the duty of care provision is the most important part of KOSA.
Blumenthal said last week that the House version of KOSA is “dead in the Senate,” though Sen.
Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, told reporters last week he is open to negotiations with the lower chamber.
This is not the first time the House and Senate have disagreed on KOSA or the duty of care provision.
Lawmakers introduced KOSA four times in as many years, and while it passed the Senate easily in 2024, House Republicans’ concerns over censorship and freedom of speech prevented it from ever hitting the House floor.
The package also includes provisions seeking to limit the addictive nature of social media, give parents tools to monitor their kids’ online experiences, create new guardrails for AI chatbots, regulate direct messaging on social media and require age verification for adult websites.
It also would implement new requirements for data brokers’ handling of kids’ data, along with updating the existing Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to expand privacy protections.
Guthrie, speaking on the House floor earlier Monday, said the committee “worked hard to reach a workable compromise.”
“While no single bill will solve every challenge facing families online, this legislation represents a significant and long-overdue step forward in establishing meaningful safeguards,” Guthrie said. “It is an important milestone-not a finish line-in the effort to better protect children online and hold bad actors accountable.”
In the upper chamber, Blackburn is in separate negotiations with the White House over a deal that could include the Senate version of KOSA.
The White House, according to two sources familiar with discussions, told a handful of tech and policy organizations earlier this month that the package could also include the House’s version of the App Store Accountability Act and language on preemption of some state laws.
Blackburn’s No Fakes Act, a bill to protect artists from AI impersonation, is also expected to be included, another source close to negotiations with the White House told The Hill.
