Kids Online Safety Act clears hurdle; Blumenthal says there’s still work to be done

The Kids Online Safety Act cleared a new hurdle this week with the approval of a congressional committee for the House version of the bill. But U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said more work needs to be done to iron out differences in the legislation and address lawmakers’ concerns in the effort to pass the bill by the end of the year.

The House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday passed two bills aimed at protecting minors online: the Kids Online Safety Act, also known as KOSA, and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, also known as COPPA 2.0.

A June hearing to discuss both bills and broader privacy legislation was canceled minutes before it was scheduled to begin amid delays and concerns from GOP leadership.

But this week, the committee moved forward with its hearing on the issue, scrapping consideration of the American Privacy Rights Act, which would have protected adults who use online platforms as well. Congress continues to push ahead with legislation specifically targeting children and teens, while nearly two decades of federal action on tech regulation has been silent.

KOSA and COPPA 2.0 have gained significant momentum in recent months after years of stalling. In July, both bills passed the Senate by a vote of 91-3. And now that they’ve cleared committee, they’re headed to the House floor, though bipartisan lawmakers and leaders are still concerned. And time is running out in the current session of Congress, with a vote likely after the November elections.

(RELATED: Blumenthal’s Kids Online Safety Act Passes Senate)

The committee approved both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 by voice vote, meaning there was no recorded vote to see how lawmakers would have voted. But some lawmakers raised doubts during the hearing.

There are some differences between the Senate version of the KOSA bill from Blumenthal and his co-author, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and the corresponding legislation in the House of Representatives from its lead sponsors, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.

One of the biggest differences is the “duty of care” section, which requires companies to make efforts to prevent harm to minors. The Senate bill specifically references certain mental disorders, physical abuse, online bullying, eating disorders and sexual exploitation. The House bill removes those references and instead includes “promotion of inherently dangerous acts that are likely to cause serious physical injury, serious emotional disturbance, or death.”

Blumenthal called the House committee vote “a positive development,” but he and Blackburn said in a joint statement that “we have more work to do on KOSA.”

“I share some of the concerns that were raised during the committee meeting,” Blumenthal said in an interview, referring to “some curtailment of the duty of care.”

(RELATED: What You Need to Know About the Kids Online Safety Act)

“The Senate bill is a very strong and effective bill, which is what I favor, but we’re going to work with our colleagues in the House of Representatives,” he added. “Our ultimate goal is to pass this bill before the end of the session.”

In addition to the duty of care, KOSA would introduce stricter settings so children and parents can disable addictive features, enable privacy settings, and opt out of algorithmic recommendations.

COPPA 2.0 updates existing 1998 legislation to protect children under 13 online. The current bill would ban targeted advertising to minors and extend protections to users between the ages of 13 and 16.

“These bills are two important pieces to ushering in a new era on the internet, one defined by accountability and security,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, said during Wednesday’s hearing.

“All of these children are no longer here because of the dangers posed by the current state of social media and our online ecosystem. Sadly, these stories are not isolated incidents,” she said as she passed around folders of stories of deceased children and urged committee members to read through them.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., raised additional concerns about KOSA and COPPA 2.0. Regarding the Kids Online Safety Act, he said some of his concerns were addressed in the first drafts of the legislation, but “they’ve unfortunately created others.” He said Congress should continue to pursue a broader privacy bill, which he argued was stronger than just the protections for children in COPPA.

“I have long believed that passing comprehensive privacy legislation to provide strong federal policy and data protections for all Americans is a critical part of holding Big Tech accountable,” Pallone said.

Some lawmakers on the House committee, such as U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., wanted a duty of care section that more closely mirrored the one in the Senate bill and didn’t focus solely on physical harm and harassment. Others shared concerns about constitutionally protected free speech and enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission.

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said he would “reluctantly” vote for the bills because they contain good provisions and intentions. But he cautioned about how the FTC would decide whether tech companies are protecting children and the potential legal implications of that.

“The intent is to protect our children. This law gives parents false hope. I think there’s a serious problem,” Crenshaw said, suggesting it would be better to ban minors under 16 from using social media. Neither law contains such a ban.

The lead sponsors of the House version of KOSA acknowledged the questions and concerns raised during the hearing, but said they remain open to further changes. Some members of the panel also raised the prospect of making changes to the legislation through a conference committee that could reconcile the differences between the two bills if they come to a vote on the House floor.

Kids Online Safety Act clears hurdle; Blumenthal says there’s still work to be done

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