ICYMI in The Hill: Senators Ramp up Pressure on House to Pass Online Safety, Privacy Package in Lame-Duck Session
December 6, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this week, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined a bipartisan group of legislators urging House Republican Leaders to pass the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) package before the end of the year.
The legislation to protect children from increasing harms caused by social media has languished in the House for months after overwhelmingly passing the Senate, 91-3, in July. Read more about the Senators’ push to pass this legislation before the end of the year below.
Senators ramp up pressure on House to pass online safety, privacy package in lame-duck session
Miranda Nazzaro
The Hill
A group of bipartisan senators pushed House Republican leadership on Wednesday to pass the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) before the end of the year as it remains stalled in the lower chamber.
In a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), six senators with the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee asked the leaders to “put the well-being of our children ahead of tech companies and bring KOSPA to the House floor for a vote.
The KOSPA package, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate in July, combines two measures, including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would create regulations for the kinds of features tech and social media companies offer kids online and aims to reduce the addictive nature and mental health impact of these platforms.
The package also includes the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). If passed, the measure would update the original COPPA from 1998 and add data privacy measures including the ban of targeted advertising to teens and kids online.
“We write today to state our support for protecting American children from the harms caused by social media and other online platforms,” the senators wrote. “While the internet and digital tools have helped kids connect with others and the world around them, these benefits have come at a profound cost—our children are experiencing emotional, mental, and physical harm from their use of digital platforms.”
“Federal law protecting children’s privacy has not kept up with technology. Further, current law does not protect the online privacy of teens aged 13-16,” the letter added.
Signatories on the letter included Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas), along with Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) — the coauthors of KOSA — and Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the authors of COPPA 2.0.
The pressure comes with just weeks to go in the lame-duck session. KOSA and COPPA advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in September, but House leadership has mostly sidestepped whether the bills will be brought to the floor before the end of the year.
Members of both parties have expressed issues with the language of the Senate versions, for varied reasons.
Johnson told Punchbowl News last month he likes the concept of KOSA, though the details of the Senate-passed version are “very problematic.”
Meanwhile, some lawmakers were concerned with the language of KOSA’s “duty of care” provision. As written in the Senate version, the provision would require platforms to design and implement features for minors to prevent and reduce harm, such as those caused by content promoting suicide and eating disorders.
The House version that advanced out of committee last month included amendments changing this provision.
The letter follows a series of other efforts from senators, namely Blackburn to push KOSA and COPPA past the finish line. The campaigns have included meetings between tech advocacy groups and members, along with parents of children who either died or were seriously harmed because of social media.
The Hill reached out to Johnson and Scalise’s offices for comment.
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