Link / Archive
House lawmakers announced a bipartisan deal on a package for protecting kids online on Monday, months after negotiations on digital and social media regulation fell apart between the two parties.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said they “worked across the aisle for many months” and found “common ground on polices to significantly improve the digital environment for kids.”
“Through empowering parents, establishing safety as a default, strengthening privacy for children and teens, increasing transparency around data brokers, and holding Big Tech accountable, the KIDS Act delivers the 21st century protections parents have demanded and our kids deserve,” the lawmakers wrote in a statement.
The Kids Internet and Digital Safety, or KIDS, Act includes portions from the landmark Kids Online Safety Act, dubbed KOSA, which aims to hold social media companies accountable for the alleged harms their platforms cause for minors and young kids, along with 13 other kids safety-related bills.
While the package now could pass with bipartisan support in the House, senators leading their own KOSA effort suggested it will be dead on arrival in the upper chamber.
The House version notably does not include a “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.
“KOSA without a duty of care isn’t KOSA—it’s a blank check to Mark Zuckerberg to exploit children. The House’s toothless & tepid capitulation is dead in the Senate & a betrayal of families suffering from Big Tech’s greed” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn..), wrote on X Monday.
Blumenthal is the co-author of the Senate version of KOSA, which varies greatly from the House.
Without this provision, KOSA co-author Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said, “Tech companies will maintain the status quo of putting profit before the safety of our children.
“We need a strong federal standard in place that will ensure Big Tech companies can’t design their products to addict, exploit, and harm America’s children,” she added.
It comes as Blackburn negotiates with the White House over a separate kids safety package.
A spokesperson for Blackburn told The Hill earlier this month that the senator is “spearheading” negotiations with the White House to finalize text for a package to federally preempt some state regulations of artificial intelligence, in exchange for kids safety bills — including the KOSA — and the No Fakes Act to protect artists from AI impersonation.
House lawmakers announced a bipartisan deal on a package for protecting kids online on Monday, months after negotiations on digital and social media regulation fell apart between the two parties.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said they “worked across the aisle for many months” and found “common ground on polices to significantly improve the digital environment for kids.”
“Through empowering parents, establishing safety as a default, strengthening privacy for children and teens, increasing transparency around data brokers, and holding Big Tech accountable, the KIDS Act delivers the 21st century protections parents have demanded and our kids deserve,” the lawmakers wrote in a statement.
The Kids Internet and Digital Safety, or KIDS, Act includes portions from the landmark Kids Online Safety Act, dubbed KOSA, which aims to hold social media companies accountable for the alleged harms their platforms cause for minors and young kids, along with 13 other kids safety-related bills.
While the package now could pass with bipartisan support in the House, senators leading their own KOSA effort suggested it will be dead on arrival in the upper chamber.
The House version notably does not include a “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.
“KOSA without a duty of care isn’t KOSA—it’s a blank check to Mark Zuckerberg to exploit children. The House’s toothless & tepid capitulation is dead in the Senate & a betrayal of families suffering from Big Tech’s greed” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn..), wrote on X Monday.
Blumenthal is the co-author of the Senate version of KOSA, which varies greatly from the House.
Without this provision, KOSA co-author Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said, “Tech companies will maintain the status quo of putting profit before the safety of our children.
“We need a strong federal standard in place that will ensure Big Tech companies can’t design their products to addict, exploit, and harm America’s children,” she added.
It comes as Blackburn negotiates with the White House over a separate kids safety package.
A spokesperson for Blackburn told The Hill earlier this month that the senator is “spearheading” negotiations with the White House to finalize text for a package to federally preempt some state regulations of artificial intelligence, in exchange for kids safety bills — including the KOSA — and the No Fakes Act to protect artists from AI impersonation.
