Majority of battleground voters support kids’ online safety laws: Poll

The majority of voters in battleground House districts said they support the government passing laws aimed at improving safety for kids and teens online, according to a poll released Monday.

There was strong bipartisan support for passing kids’ online safety rules, with both 88 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans saying they support the government passing laws to put responsible safeguards in place to protect minors online, according to the poll exclusively shared with The Hill.

The poll was commissioned by The Tech Oversight Project, a group pushing for tech regulation that is primarily funded by the Omidyar Network, and conducted by Public Policy Polling from June 4-5.

The survey polled 602 voters in 22 battleground districts identified by the Cook Political Report, as well as the districts held by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and ranking member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.). The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

The survey also questioned voters specifically about the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would add regulations that aim to mitigate concerns about the use of certain tools and features and their impact on children’s mental health. Seventy-eight percent of voters said they would support KOSA, including 83 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Republicans.

A slight majority, 56 percent, of the surveyed voters said they would be more likely to vote for their member of Congress next time if they supported KOSA. That was seen more significantly among Democrats, at 62 percent, compared to Republicans, at 56 percent. Only 46 percent of independents said the same, based on the poll.

A Senate version of KOSA advanced in July and now has more than 60 co-sponsors, enough support to pass the Senate even with the filibuster rule in place. However, the bill has not yet been called to a vote on the Senate floor.

In the House, a version was introduced in April and advanced out of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee but has not yet been approved by the full committee panel.

Although the bill has broad bipartisan support, some advocacy and tech industry-backed groups have opposed KOSA based on concerns that it could limit access to information about topics such as sexuality and reproductive health, especially impacting LGBTQ teens, due to enforcement decisions left in the hands of state attorneys general.

Supporters of the legislation, though, have said the text of the bill has been updated to mitigate those risks, and some LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, including GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, dropped their opposition based on changes.