Senate passes legislation aimed at protecting minors online

By Shania Shelton, CNN

(CNN) — The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation aimed at protecting children online amid an ongoing national debate about the effect of social media use on children.

The vote was 91 to 3 with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah voting against.

It’s not yet clear if the bill will be taken up in the House, though House Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled openness to the measure.

The legislative package is made up of a pair of key bills.

The Kids Online Safety Act requires platforms to provide safeguards for minors, including restricting access to minors’ personal data and providing parents with tools to supervise minors’ use of a platform, such as control of privacy and account settings. The bill would require limits on features that encourage children and teens to stay on the platform longer, including rewards for time spent on the platform and notifications. Platforms would also be required to provide minors with easily accessible options to delete their account or personal data, as well as options to limit the amount of time they spend on them.

The bill allows parents, minors and schools to submit reports if there is harm to a minor to which platforms would have to establish a process for responding. It would also prohibit advertisements shown to kids and teens that include narcotic drugs, tobacco products, gambling or alcohol.

KOSA would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general could also bring civil actions if there are violations in their states.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee sponsored the bill and said the personal experiences of parents and young people, who visited DC, told their stories to lawmakers and wrote letters, are the heart of the bill.

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act amends the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to strengthen protections relating to the online collection, use and disclosure of personal information of children and teens, including allowing minors the opportunity to delete their personal data.

The bill bans targeted advertising to minors, such as based on a minor’s search history. It also prohibits platforms from collecting personal data from users under the age of 17 without their consent, an increase in age of 13 from the original legislation.

Sponsors of the bill, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, said in a statement that the legislation “has been intensely vetted, has strong support on both sides of the aisle, and directly targets Big Tech’s underlying incentive to keep young people scrolling, clicking, and liking for as long as possible.”

The push to further regulate social media use for minors at the federal level has been an ongoing mission and follows efforts by some state legislatures, including most recently Colorado and New York, to attempt to regulate social media platforms’ influence over minors. Critics of the federal legislation, including the American Civil Liberties Union, tech advocacy and free speech groups, have pointed to potential violations of the First Amendment and obstacles to children and teens’ abilities to access important resources.

“The requirements threaten the First Amendment rights of minors, which the Supreme Court has firmly established, and the vagueness of the requirements empowers states to target platforms that host speech the government wishes to suppress,” the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said in a statement.

Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group, warned in a statement that KOSA could stifle the ability of young people to research sensitive issues.

“Under a potential Trump administration, the FTC could easily use KOSA to target content related to gender affirming care, abortion, racial justice, climate change, or anything else that Project 2025-infused agency is willing to claim makes kids ‘depressed’ or ‘anxious,’” she said.

But Maurine Molak, the founder of the anti-bullying organization David’s Legacy Foundation, said that her son’s death by suicide at the age of 16 motivated her to work alongside other parents, families and young people to pass KOSA.

“This bill does not represent the government doing too much or intervening where they are not welcome. It is simply the government telling Big Tech they are no longer allowed to endanger children’s lives in order to make a profit. Let’s be clear, and accurate, about that,” Molak wrote for the Austin American-Statesman last week.

CNN’s Clare Foran, Haley Talbot and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

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