The House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a package of 19 bills aimed at protecting children online, giving Congress the opportunity to pass some of the most substantive internet regulations in recent history (along with a battle for online speech rights).
KOSA Law: Protection of children on the internet
The Commerce Subcommittee will consider the bills during a hearing on Tuesday, including the controversial Act Children's Online (KOSA). KOSA is proposed to protect parents who have lost their children to various online problems, including cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and drugs purchased online.
See also: Malaysia: Ban social media for children?
However, the new version of the bill omits a feature that was included in the Senate version, a version that passed overwhelmingly last year: the duty of care, which would make tech platforms legally responsible for mitigating harms stemming from their services, such as eating disorders and depression. Critics have warned that this could include a range of legal ramifications, including resources that seek to mitigate the very harms that KOSA aims to solve.
Under the new draft, the duty of care has been replaced by a requirement: social media platforms must have “reasonable policies, practices and procedures” to address four specific types of harm: “Threats of physical violence”, “Sexual exploitation and abuse”, “Distribution, sale or use of drugs, tobacco products, cannabis products, gambling or alcohol” and “Any financial harm caused by deceptive practices”. The extent of the policies and procedures that a platform must have should be appropriate to the scale and complexity of the platform itself and the technical capability to address the harms. The new version also expands the definition of who is covered by the bill to include non-profit platforms.
See also: NetChoice: Lawsuit in Virginia over social media restrictions for children
Other bills under discussion
The package includes several other important bills. Among them is the App Store Accountability Act, the federal version of a bill that has passed in several states requiring age verification at the app store level and the transmission of age signals to developers. The Children and Adolescents Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) would increase the age of privacy protections and prohibit targeted advertising to those covered by the bill. The Reducing Social Media Exposure to Teens (RESET) Act, currently under discussion, would prohibit social media platforms from allowing children or teens under 16 to maintain accounts.
See also: Australia – Social media ban for children: Reddit also on the list
The bills are significant steps toward protecting children. They are the biggest steps forward since last year, when House Republican leadership took the opportunity to advance KOSA. Although the Senate passed it 91-3, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) have raised concerns about the bill’s constitutionality and its impact on free speech. Opponents have accused them of being tied to the tech industry because of investments in their state. Now, it appears House leadership may move forward with pursuing these new regulations.
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