Issue One commends KOSA advancement in the House: “One step closer to becoming law”

Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to advance the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), setting the stage for a full vote in the House. Following the vote, Alix Fraser, director of Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media, released the following statement:

“Despite Big Tech’s best efforts to skirt responsibility and lobby members of Congress to oppose any commonsense safeguards that will make social media a safer place for young people, the Kids Online Safety Act is one step closer to becoming law. We are on the cusp of a historic victory that will dramatically tilt the balance of power on the internet toward consumers by requiring social media companies to prioritize the health and safety of their users.

“We look forward to working with Republicans and Democrats in the House to pass the strongest version of KOSA so the president can sign this bipartisan bill into law before the end of the year. It is critical that the final version of KOSA thoroughly protects against mental health harms to children and prevents the platforms from designing addictive technology. These are the protections that parents and youth leaders have demanded and that Congress must deliver.”

Last week, a new poll released by Issue One, ParentsSOS, and Fairplay found near universal public support (86%) for KOSA. The bill would require social media platforms to protect minors from specific online harms, such as the promotion of eating disorders, suicide, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation. It would provide children and parents with new safeguards, require the strongest safety settings by default, and impose penalties on companies whose design features expose children to these types of harms on their platforms. The poll also found that nearly all voters (93%) agree that mental health challenges facing children and teens today are a serious problem, and nearly nine in ten (88%) say the government should pass laws to put responsible safeguards in place.

In July, the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act in a historic and bipartisan 91-3 vote. The bill, which combines two pieces of bipartisan legislation — Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) — directly addresses the harmful social media business model by placing the health, well-being, and privacy of minor users over advertising revenue. The House must now act so that KOSA can be signed into law.