Kids online safety bill that had broad Senate support hits roadblock in House

A bill intended to boost privacy and safety for children online that had broad bipartisan support in the Senate is stalling in the House amid resistance from leadership, putting a spotlight on Republican divisions on tech policy.

Supporters of the legislation are outwardly optimistic about advancing it before the end of the year, hoping momentum from the Senate passage will prove the House resistance to be a speed bump rather than a brick wall.

But the path forward is murky.

A House leadership aide told The Hill that concerns from across the House GOP about the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) — which passed the Senate 91-3 last month as part of a package that also included provisions such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Action Act (COPPA 2.0) — suggest it “cannot be brought in its current form.”

“It could lead to censorship of conservative speech, such as pro-life views, is almost certainly unconstitutional and grants sweeping new authority to unelected bureaucrats at the FTC,” the leadership aide said, referring to the Federal Trade Commission.

The bill, which would create regulations to govern the kinds of features tech and social media companies could offer to minors online, is the result of years of advocacy and growing public awareness around the potential addictiveness of social media and its effects on youth mental health.

But opponents say the measure, as written, isn’t the solution.

“It is a little bit of a pleasant surprise that the questions about how the bill actually works have penetrated the narrative of needing to get something done,” said Josh Withrow, resident fellow of technology and innovation at the free-market R Street Institute, which has been critical of the legislation.

Central to the bill and the controversy around it is KOSA’s “duty of care” provision, requiring platforms to design and implement features in order to prevent and mitigate harm to minors — such as that caused by content promoting suicide, eating disorders and sexual exploitation.

Just as support for the bill has crossed ideologies, Republicans have strange bedfellows in opposition.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent high schoolers to Capitol Hill to lobby against the bill last month. Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said the organization is concerned that “platforms are ultimately going to censor content that they think that the FTC thinks could cause harm.”

“A future Republican administration might try to censor LGBTQ voices and content, or reproductive health care information,” Leventoff said.

Advocates for the bill argue the concerns shared by House leadership and other critics are overblown or misunderstand the mechanics of the legislation.

“KOSA outlaws practices such as manipulative marketing, amplification of harmful content, and damaging design features that threaten young people online. KOSA does not require social media companies to remove, filter or block any content,” Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), a leader of the House version of KOSA, said in a statement. “Instead, the bill would obligate these companies to keep young users’ best interests in mind as they design platform features and prioritize these users’ well-being over engagement or profit.”

Danny Weiss, chief advocacy officer at the nonprofit Common Sense Media, which is supportive of the legislation, said changes that had been made to the bill give the FTC less of a role than it had in earlier versions — changes that won support from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Weiss noted that Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who is former President Trump’s running mate, supported the bill.

“KOSA is about safety by design. These claims are being pushed by big tech companies, including Google and Meta to allow them to continue profiting off our children,” Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the leaders of the KOSA and COPPA 2.0 legislation that passed the Senate last month, said in a joint statement to The Hill.

Despite the resistance in the House, KOSA advocates are staying optimistic. Blackburn and Blumenthal said they “are confident that the Kids Online Safety Act will be signed into law this year.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has previously talked favorably about the need to address children’s safety online, giving hope to KOSA supporters.

“Obviously, we need to protect children with regard to online activity,” Johnson told CNBC last month. “The internet is the wild, wild west, and some of these reforms are overdue.”

But even though he suspected it would have “a lot of support,” Johnson said the House would “be looking at the exact details of the legislation.”

Absent a vote on the Senate-passed legislation, one option to keep the legislation moving is the House Energy and Commerce Committee holding a markup on the House version of KOSA.

Josh Golin, executive director at Fairplay, the nonprofit that advocates for children’s consumer safety, said his group is “fairly confident” about a House markup in September. 

“We see that as the logical and necessary next step, no matter what path this bill is going to take,” Golin said.

But with just 13 voting days scheduled in the House that month before lawmakers head for another break before the election, there is a time crunch. Results of the election risk changing lawmakers’ thinking about advancing KOSA and COPPA 2.0.

Further complicating the dynamics are disagreements between leadership and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) that spilled out into the open earlier this year. The committee abruptly canceled a June scheduled markup of 11 bills, including KOSA, after GOP leaders expressed opposition to another major tech bill in the batch. McMorris Rodgers, like many of the committee’s Republican members, is supportive of KOSA.

“I’m an eternal optimist – choosing to see opportunities where others might see challenges,” Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), a lead sponsor of the House version of KOSA, said in a statement, adding that he will “look forward to doing whatever it takes to build upon that success and get meaningful legislation across the finish line.”

“It is critical that we implement better safeguards for children while empowering parents with the tools they need to keep kids safe,” Bilirakis said.

Another option is to attach KOSA to a piece of must-pass legislation, such as a continuing resolution or omnibus funding bill. Weiss, of Common Sense Media, recalled that KOSA and COPPA were considered to be included in an omnibus package in 2022, but negotiators ultimately excluded it.

Weiss, however, still argues that the best course of action is for the House to take up the Senate-passed bill — and that members could campaign on addressing the concerns families have about kids online.

“Nobody thought the Senate would act. [Majority Leader Chuck Schumer] promised to get this done. He did it,” Weiss said. “The House has the opportunity to do the exact same thing, and they can do it before the election, and they can send a powerful message to voters back home that they listened and they acted.”

Golin said that as he and Fairplay continue to try to build support for KOSA in the House, his group plans to help facilitate meetings between parent advocates and lawmakers.

“[Parents] whose children have died because of online harms have been incredible at changing hearts, minds and votes when they’ve had their meetings directly with members,” Golin said.

“Don’t underestimate these parents and youth, because they’re pretty incredible. And when they tell their stories firsthand [to] members of Congress, it really does make a difference.”