Memphis Standard

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) celebrated the Senate passage of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act earlier this month. The bill is headed to the House with growing support from conservative groups, including Concerned Women for America.

The Kids Online Safety Act was first introduced in 2022 by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) in response to several Congressional hearings regarding the exploitation of children online. Since then, bipartisan concern over this issue has intensified. Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, along with representatives from X, TikTok, and Discord, appeared before a Senate Judiciary hearing to defend their companies’ practices concerning child safety on their platforms. During intense questioning from Senators, Zuckerberg apologized for the harm done to children on Meta’s platforms.

Despite widespread agreement on the need for safer online environments for children, Congress has not passed significant legislation on this issue since the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act—a law considered outdated given the rise of social media. Legislators have struggled with balancing child safety and First Amendment protections. The Kids Online Safety Act aims to make social media more child-friendly without policing content or intruding into private company affairs.

KOSA's primary objective is to guide how big tech companies deliver content to minors. One provision would establish a “duty of care,” requiring companies to “exercise reasonable care” in designing features that prevent harms such as sexual exploitation and abuse of children. This includes limiting unknown adults' ability to communicate with minors on these platforms.

Additionally, KOSA seeks to prevent companies from using algorithmic designs that encourage excessive use by minors, such as limitless scrolling and video auto-plays. Senator Blumenthal remarked: “Record levels of hopelessness and despair—a national teen mental health crisis—have been fueled by black box algorithms featuring eating disorders, bullying, suicidal thoughts, and more.” He added that kids and parents want more control over their online lives.

Further provisions include mandatory default features that safeguard minors by restricting public access to personal data and giving parents tools to manage their child's social media account effectively. These tools would allow adjustments in privacy settings, restriction of purchases, and easy reporting of harmful content—ensuring transparency about how reports are handled.

While KOSA enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress, objections have come primarily from big tech companies and parts of the LGBTQ community. Some companies like Facebook support stronger protections but disagree with KOSA's approach. They argue that while there are valid points against KOSA's methods; these companies have not sufficiently addressed child safety issues themselves.

The bill passed in the Senate with a 91-3 vote margin but awaits consideration in the House where its future remains uncertain despite its momentum.