Bills to boost kids’ online safety advance in Senate with bipartisan support

Two bills that would add regulations on tech companies in a way that aims to increase safety for kids online advanced out of a Senate panel Wednesday with broad bipartisan support. 

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, also known as COPPA 2.0.

Despite broad support for the proposals debated Wednesday, the hearing highlighted divisions among the top members of the committee.

Ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) criticized the panel for not bringing up the comprehensive data privacy bill he introduced. He voted against advancing Sen. Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) COPPA 2.0 bill, not based on the legislation itself but rather because he thinks the committee should be prioritizing the comprehensive American Data Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA). That bill addresses privacy concerns for all Americans, and also includes some protections for children that are included in the COPPA 2.0 bill. 

“While no legislation is perfect, the ADPPA represents a bipartisan, bicameral compromise which I believe has the best chance to reach the president’s desk before the end of this year,” Wicker said. 

“I appreciate all the work that has gone into the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, but the need for a national law that provides data protection for everyone must be this committee’s priority. For that reason I can not support this legislation today,” Wicker added. 

The ADPPA advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week with bipartisan support. But Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has not supported the proposal, based largely on pushback over enforcement of the law, meaning it has slim chances of advancing in the Senate. 

Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) also said they could not support COPPA 2.0 as it is now, based on concerns over authority given to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on rulemaking. However, the senators said they would work with colleagues on the bill as it moves forward, signaling they may support it in a potential floor vote. 

COPPA 2.0, however, still advanced out of committee in a voice vote. 

The bill would update the 1998 law, authored by then-Rep. Markey, to provide protections for minors ages 12-16 who are not covered by the existing law. It would also put new protections in place, including banning targeted advertising to children. 

KOSA, a bill sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Blackburn, advanced in a 28-0 vote. 

The bill would address platforms’ design and how they operate for young users. For example, it would create a duty for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harm to minors, including content promoting self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and substance abuse. 

It would also require platforms to put the strictest privacy settings in place as the default setting for minors. 

Supporters have been pushing for both bills to become law, saying that they work complementarily to each other to boost protections for kids and teens online. 

“This is an important step toward creating a safer and less exploitative internet for children and teens. Taken together, KOSA and COPPA will provide critical privacy protections for children and teens, limit surveillance advertising, and require platforms to prioritize young people’s best interests,” Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, said in a statement following the markup. “We urge Congress to pass these bills into law – for far too long, Big Tech has been allowed to regulate itself at great expense to the health and wellbeing of young Americans.”