Kid’s Online Safety Act – What It Is and Why It’s Such a Big Deal

Congress could pass major social media regulations within a month, depending on the House vote on the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

The bill, which passed the Senate on July 30 by a near-unanimous 91-3 vote, would expand online child safety protections and regulate how online platforms interact with minors. It is the first online child protection bill to pass the chamber since the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1998.

Supporters praise KOSA for curbing some of the most addictive and dangerous features of social media. Critics say it’s a regulatory and privacy nightmare waiting to happen.

There are pro-family advocates on both sides.

The law

KOSA aims to reduce the harms that minors experience after spending too much time online, including mental illness, addiction-related behavior, physical and cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and abuse, and financial harm. The bill mainly applies to social media platforms, although some interactive gaming platforms could also be affected.

KOSA requires that the platforms involved provide a number of standard protections for accounts of minors:

• Restrict who can communicate with the minor and view his/her profile.
• Prevent other authorities from viewing and tracking the data of minors.
• Limit addictive features such as endless scrolling, autoplay, and rewards for spending time on the platform.
• Limit personalized recommendation systems by organizing content chronologically or by limiting the types of content suggested.
• Restrict location sharing and notify the user if their location is being tracked.

These settings help prevent kids from accidentally stumbling across something inappropriate, but they don’t hide inappropriate results when kids search for them. That’s why KOSA also requires platforms to create tools that help parents:

• Manage a minor’s privacy and account settings.
• Restrict the minor’s ability to engage in financial transactions or make purchases.
• View and limit the time a minor can spend on the platform.

KOSA includes revisions to COPPA, a law that prohibits online companies from collecting certain types of personal information from children without consent. The revisions expand the types of companies that must comply with COPPA and the types of data that cannot be collected without consent. In practice, it would require social media companies to obtain parental consent before allowing a child under 13 to use their service.

KOSA also requires a greater degree of transparency from the companies involved. Platforms should:

• Warn parents and minors about the potential dangers associated with using their services.
• Make marketing and advertising content clearly visible.
• Explain how they create personalized recommendation algorithms and give users the option to opt out.

The platforms involved must also set up a reporting system for parents, children and schools so they can alert the company if their safety tools are not working.

Companies could be sued by state attorneys general if they don’t comply with KOSA. The bill would task the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with determining what compliance would look like — and what types of conduct a company could be sued for.

The FTC would also be allowed to investigate KOSA violations as “unfair or deceptive trade practices.”

Regulatory infrastructure

KOSA does more than just impose rules on social media companies: it creates a federal system to determine and enforce the requirements.

It requires affected platforms to submit to an annual third-party audit to determine whether — and how — they have harmed minors. The findings would be released in a mandatory transparency report.

KOSA is establishing a Kids Online Safety Council, which will work with the FTC to develop compliance guidelines for participating companies.

It commissions no fewer than five national studies into the ways in which social media harms minors, with the Kids Online Safety Council helping to design these projects.

With a view to future age verification systems in smart devices, KOSA is also commissioning a study into the plausibility and impact of age verification at the device level.

Trailers

Michael Toscano, director of the Institute for Family Studies, puts the problem in perspective:

Despite the fact that a large portion of social media users are children, these platforms are completely exempt from any regulations regarding child safety.

Toscano blames this lack of regulation on the sneaky and addictive tactics social media companies use to hook children. KOSA, he argues, will help break the grip of social media.

(The bill) would give parents and young Americans effective tools to better tailor their own experiences on these platforms to their age, while giving them the freedom to disable the most addictive features.

Senator Marsha Blackburn, one of the authors of KOSA, argues that the legislation “will help save countless innocent lives from harm online.

Parents of children who have been victims of, or even died from, social media-related problems agree and welcome KOSA as a way to force companies like Meta to take responsibility for their young users.

Perhaps unexpectedly, tech giants like X, Snap, and Microsoft also support KOSA as a “necessary step in regulating tech companies… and protecting children from dangerous online content.”

Critics

Critics say the law gives the government the power to determine what types of content are safe for children. People on both sides of the political spectrum worry that censorship could obscure information about important issues like abortion. In an X post explaining why he voted against KOSA, Utah Sen. Mike Lee wrote:

KOSA ignores the serious harm that online pornographers are doing to children, both through viewing and through exploitation. Instead, this legislation gives the FTC the authority to censor any content it deems “harm,” “anxiety,” or “depression,” in a way that could (and likely has) been used to censor the expression of political, religious, and other views the FTC disapproves of.

Senator Rand Paul joined Lee in voting against the bill, saying: The New York Post,

The whole idea that we set up a commission and give a vague definition of fear, and then say we’re giving some group the power to regulate anything that causes fear is bizarre.

Others are concerned about KOSA’s apparent support for age verification technology, which opponents say violates user privacy.

Some tech companies continue to cling to the age-old argument that third-party hosting platforms cannot be held responsible for the content people post.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the authors of KOSA, argues that the bill does not change social media companies’ responsibility for inappropriate content, only their business practices.

“We are holding social media platforms accountable for the harm they have caused with the product design and business decisions they have made,” he explains.

Blumenthal and Blackburn are concerned about censorship on the KOSA information page. They explain that the bill does not create rules for content or give officials additional powers to prosecute people for what they post.

Looking ahead

House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to bringing up the bill, although he has Edge he is “committed to working to build consensus in the House.” Should KOSA pass the House, President Joe Biden has all but said he will sign it. Representatives are scheduled to reconvene on September 9.

Even if KOSA becomes law, opponents could challenge it in court and delay its implementation.

Why it’s important

Like many worthy endeavors, protecting children online is a difficult and controversial process. Parents and concerned citizens must exercise self-discipline and discernment—especially when the issue divides those who support families. So stay tuned to KOSA, do your research, and don’t be afraid to join the conversation.

For more information about protecting children in your state, contact your state’s Family Policy Council.

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Four Ways to Protect Your Kids from Bad Technology, from Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt

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The Harmful Effects of Screen Culture on Children

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