KOSA sponsors want the Senate to vote quickly with less than a fortnight to go before recess

Kids Online Safety and Protections: The COPPA 2.0 Floor Vote of Sen. Ron Schumer, M. Noah Blumenthal, and Kristina Molak

There are some potential hurdles the bill could face in beating the clock. Lawmakers in the Senate could propose amendments that slow down its progress or invite new opposition. Asked at the press conference whether the sponsors are hoping that other senators don’t seek to tack their own kids online safety bills onto the measure, Blumenthal reiterated, “my hope is that we will have no amendments.” Schumer already sought to pass the bill by unanimous consent, which would have expedited the process. According to Sen. Ron Wyden, he would oppose that route due to concerns about the bill’s impact on the LGBTQ+ community.

There will be a duty of care on online platforms to take reasonable steps to reduce harms to children, and KOSA requires the option for parental control for children’s accounts. COPPA 2.0 would build on an existing children’s privacy law and raise the age for privacy protections from kids under 13 to 17, and ban targeted advertising to that group.

“This floor vote is a momentous occasion after a two year-long effort,” said ParentsSOS Co-Founder Maurine Molak, whose son David died by suicide at age 16 after experiencing cyberbullying. “It seems our elected leaders have heard us, and they are ready to help. They are prepared to save childrens lives. Molak added, “while I would do anything to have my son back, seeing this bill across the finish line is my second-greatest wish.”

Fight for the Future, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have continued to be critical of KOSA fearing that it would stifle speech on the internet and restrict access to certain resources for marginalized kids. The bill’s sponsors made some changes that caused the groups that had previously opposed it to drop their opposition.

If the bill becomes law, it will likely face challenges in the courts, which now must contend with a new Supreme Court opinion, which made clear that social media curation and content moderation is expressive. Blumenthal said he was confident that KOSA would survive any challenges. “I think this bill is constitutionally bulletproof,” he said.

But Smithing, who said her group withheld support of KOSA until its most recent changes, pointed the limitation section of the duty of care, which lets minors search for what they want and receive “evidence-informed information.” Smithing said that by specifying the bill, they feel more confident that the bill is not about content.

Changing lives through social media: Naomi Smithing, Melissa Bancroft, and Mike Johnson speak at a press conference on KOSA, a privacy bill

Smithing said she’s feeling optimistic. I feel like I have been tapping into this optimistic feeling for a couple of months. Like if I keep pushing forward, something good will happen,” Smithing said. “And today feels like a day where a little bit of that optimism was realized and a little bit of that delusion was set to the side.”

It is not too late to act, according to Tracy Ann, whose son has an eating disorder that she believes was caused by social media. Bancroft said they needed the legislation passed quickly.

Ava Smithing, advocacy and operations director at the Young People’s Alliance, who’s shared her story with lawmakers about how social media algorithms steered her toward eating disorder content, said it’s “a very exhausting process having to retell really deeply personal stories again, and again, and again.” But with Schumer’s announcement, “today feels rewarding, and like those conversations and those long days aren’t going to be unanswered.”

Even with possible hurdles ahead, advocates at the press conference appeared relieved, excited, and focused on finishing the job in both the Senate and House.

In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), said he is “looking forward to reviewing the details of the legislation that comes out of the Senate. Parents need to have access to the necessary tools to safeguard their children online. I am committed to working to find consensus in the House.”

Blackburn said they’d had conversations with members in the House, and “visited with House leadership.” She added that, “we look forward to them moving it forward very soon.”

If it does clear the Senate, the House’s Republican leadership would need to take it up. Republican leadership recently scuttled an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing where the House version of KOSA was set to be discussed, due to concerns with a separate privacy bill. The ranking member on that committee, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), has expressed concerns about KOSA. If it passes out of the committee, House leadership would have to give more time to KOSA to get a vote in short order.

The plea underscores the time crunch the bill faces to reach the president’s desk before the August recess. That’s an important timeline not just because it would be nice for the sponsors to have it squared away before vacation, but also because it is notoriously difficult to pass meaningful legislation after August in an election year.

At a press conference Tuesday, advocates and bill sponsors urged other senators to quickly vote to pass the bill, without other amendments that could stall its progress once again. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a lead sponsor of the bill along with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), said he hoped the floor vote would be “quick and clean” and “without amendments.”