Kids Online Safety Act Advances to House Amid Concerns Over Free Speech and Civil Rights
The bipartisan Children’s Online Safety Act, designed to protect minors from age-inappropriate content online, will come up for a vote in the House. But critics say the bill could also be used to restrict civil rights.
THE Child Safety Online Act was first introduced in the Senate in 2022 under President Joe Biden. This would require online platforms to provide settings to control how minors use the sites and also limit the collection of their personal data.
However, opponents of the bill say the definition of “harmful content” could extend to legitimate sites, including those covering mental health and transgender rights. The American Civil Liberties Union warns that the legislation could affect the free speech protections provided by the First Amendment.
“The overbroad language of KOSA and similar laws risks censoring everything from jokes and hyperbole to helpful information about sex education and suicide prevention,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy advisor for the ACLU.
The bill also directs federal agencies to study the feasibility of “creating an age verification system at the device or operating system level,” but it does not require platforms to implement such a system.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee met Thursday and presented the bill to the full House for consideration. However, lawmakers have yet to set a specific calendar date for that floor vote.
The proposed legislation follows a global trend to restrict the types of online material children have access to. Last year, the United Kingdom presented its Online Safety Actwhich requires platforms that host adult or other age-inappropriate content to implement rigorous age verification controls to prevent minors from accessing it.
On March 28, Indonesia will ban children under-16s from accessing social media, following a similar ban in Australia.
