U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) celebrated the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) – marking the first major tech industry reform since 1998.
Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal first introduced the Kids Online Safety Act in February 2022, following investigative reporting by the Wall Street Journal and a series of subcommittee hearings with social media companies and advocates.
These hearings highlighted the repeated failures of tech giants to protect children on their platforms.
“Today, the Senate took a major step forward in protecting children online by passing the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act,” said Senator Blackburn. “This legislation equips young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency needed to defend against online harms. I want to thank Senator Blumenthal for his outstanding partnership, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for helping us achieve this victory in the Senate.
“Our House champions, the over 240 supportive organizations, and the hundreds of parents who came to Washington to lobby Congress were instrumental in this success. The 91 Senators who stood up to Big Tech and voted in favor of this legislation have helped save countless innocent lives from online exploitation,” concluded Blackburn.
“This is a moving and historic day, marking a significant victory for our children,” said Senator Blumenthal. “Anyone who doubted our progress has never met our advocates – the parents who have lost children and the young people who refused to be treated like Big Tech piggy banks. These families, through their shared grief, have worked tirelessly to be some of the most dedicated advocates my colleagues have ever seen.
“I am deeply grateful to Senators Schumer and McConnell for advancing the Kids Online Safety Act through the Senate and to Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz for their leadership on the Commerce Committee. We are now eager to collaborate with our champions in the House of Representatives. With the support of our large, diverse, and determined coalition, I am confident we will get this bill across the finish line. This will be the first internet safety reform in nearly three decades – a significant bipartisan achievement proving that democracy still works,” said Blumenthal.
KOSA will mandate platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings by default, require them to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, provide parents and educators with new controls to help protect children, and necessitate independent audits and research into social media companies.
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