Senate passes Kids Online Safety Act

Kids Online Safety Act overview:

• Who: The U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act.
• Why: The bill intends to protect children from potential harms online, such as bullying, violence, sexual exploitation and other potential harms.
• Where: The U.S. Senate passed the bill.

The U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill aimed at protecting children from potential harms online, according to AP News. The bill has yet to clear the U.S. House of Representatives, but President Joe Biden says he will sign the bill into law if the House passes it.

The Kids Online Safety Act creates a “duty of care” for companies to take reasonable steps to prevent potential harm to children, such as bullying, violence, suicide promotion, sexual exploitation and advertisements for products that are illegal for minors to purchase and use, such as alcohol, tobacco and narcotics, according to the act’s text.

Under the Kids Online Safety Act, social media companies will be required to limit features intended to keep kids online, such as platform rewards or video autoplay features. They would also be required to give minors the ability to protect their information and opt out of algorithmic suggestions.

“So many of the harms that young people experience online and on social media are the result of deliberate design choices that these companies make,” Josh Golin, the executive director of a nonprofit organization called Fairplay that is working to protect youth from harms posed by tech companies, tells the AP.

The Federal Trade Commission would be responsible for enforcing the act because the agency oversees the types of content considered harmful to children, the AP explains.

Kids Online Safety Act opponents concerned about First Amendment implications

Some opponents of the bill are concerned about potential First Amendment implications. Kate Duane of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology told the AP she is concerned the bill’s “duty of care” provision may be misused to target marginalized communities and suppress information that could be considered politically divisive.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has not said whether he would bring the bill to the House for a vote.

President Biden urged the House to pass the bill, noting “we need action by Congress to protect our kids online and hold Big Tech accountable for the national experiment they are running on our children for profit,” the AP reports.

The Senate Commerce Committee initially introduced the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act In July 2022. Despite widespread support for the bill, several lawmakers recommended certain changes before voting on it.

Do you think the Kids Online Safety Act does enough to protect children from potential online harms? Join the discussion in the comments. 

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