The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed landmark legislation that will help protect children from online dangers and ensure social media platforms take measures to protect young users.
Legislators approved a package including two bills – the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, nicknamed KOSA and COPPA 2.0 – by a 91-3 vote to show strong bipartisan support.
KOSA is one of many bills targeting online dangers, and was considered the most likely to pass into law with 69 cosponsors across the political spectrum.
The legislation is now headed to the House — which is in a summer recess until September — where it faces an uncertain future, since some representatives have claimed the bill is an infringement on free speech.
“The second half can be the toughest in some ways, but also the easiest psychologically because you see the end in sight,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who co-wrote the legislation, told The New York Times.
If passed through the House, KOSA would require social media platforms to exercise “duty of care” – taking steps to prevent online harm, which includes bullying, violence, the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, drug deals and sexual exploitation.
Social media platforms would be required to protect minors’ information, as well as disable addictive features and personalized algorithms on children’s accounts.
The bill would require companies to restrict other users’ interactions with minors on social media.
The second measure includes an update to child privacy laws that prohibits online companies from collecting personal information from users under 13, and raises that age to 17. It would also ban targeted advertising toward teens and allow teens’ personal information to be deleted.
Blumenthal – who co-wrote KOSA with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) – said the bill is for parents and children “to say to big tech, we no longer trust you to make decisions for us.”
Parents of children who died by suicide after being bullied online have been pushing for the Senate to vote on the protective legislation.
Some parents watched the vote on Tuesday from the gallery above.
Julianna Arnold of New York was in the audience. She lost her 17-year-old daughter Lucienne Konar, known as Coco, to fentanyl poisoning after an Instagram dealer sold her counterfeit Percocet laced with the drug.
“It makes you feel like you have a purpose after all of this horror,” Arnold told The New York Times. “It feels good to be doing something good and taking something so dark and bringing light to it.”
Social media dangers are rampant — 80% of parents say their kids have experienced some form of online harm, ranging from illicit content to harassment, according to online safety expert Verifymy.
“The level of harmful and illegal content online today is unacceptable,” Verifymy COO Andy Lulham said in a statement. “Parents are rightly worried and are doing everything they can to educate and protect their kids as they interact online.”
The House is expected to pick up the bill in September. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) previously said he would look at the bill and try to find consensus.
In a surprising twist, tech giants Snap, X and Microsoft have all spoken in support of the legislation.
Snap praised the bill and said “the safety and well-being of young people on Snapchat is a top priority” in a statement last week.
Meanwhile, the social media platform – which allows users to send photos that disappear after a seconds-long timer runs out – is known for frequent child luring and sextortion schemes.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has not taken a clear stance on the legislation.
When asked about an older version of the bill earlier this year on Capitol Hill, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company could support it with some changes.
Supporters of the bill, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), were aiming for a unanimous vote, which would fast-track the process. The speedy legislative path would allow the Senate, which is running short on floor time ahead of the upcoming 2024 election, to avoid a lengthier roll call vote.
While not unanimous, supporters were hoping for a strong vote, which might push the House to act faster. An 86-1 test vote last week hinted at the landslide vote on Tuesday.
“Getting to this point wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. It has been a long and winding and difficult road,” Schumer said in a statement on Monday. “But after tomorrow, I am very proud that it will all have been worth it.”
Schumer took some heat earlier this month for slowing down the bill’s progress when he promised – and failed – to schedule a floor vote by June 20, despite the legislation’s widespread support.
Schumer’s slowdown is not the only obstacle in the bill’s path.
KOSA – written by Blumenthal and Blackburn – strives to strike a balance between social media restrictions and the protection of free speech.
Some critics have worried that vulnerable children would not be able to access important information on LGBTQ issues or reproductive rights as easily, so the bill was revised to address these concerns and keep this access protected.
But some members of Congress have argued the legislation still poses too much of a threat to the First Amendment.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) previously said KOSA’s definition of “mental health disorder” is too broad and could shift over time.
“They’ve already got moms who’ve had tragedies with their kids coming up to me, but someone has to have the guts to read the bill, see what’s wrong with it,” Paul told the Huffington Post last month. “If they want it unanimously, they have to negotiate.”
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has reportedly sought assurances that KOSA would not weaken Section 230, a controversial statute he co-authored that protects online services from being liable for third-party content generated by its users, sources said.
“There have been productive discussions on KOSA,” a Wyden aide said. “It’s moving in the right direction. He has not yet lifted his hold.”
Meanwhile, parents of children who committed suicide due to the dangers of social media have been pushing for the bill to pass through the Senate.
Their calls grew louder after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered a surprise apology to the families of victims of online child sex abuse during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill.
