The House Energy and Commerce Committee has advanced two high-profile child safety bills that would reshape large parts of the Internet: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Youth Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). The proposed laws passed a voice vote despite dissatisfaction with last-minute changes to KOSA, in particular, which were intended to quell persistent criticism.
KOSA and COPPA 2.0 will give federal agencies more control over technology companies that have users under 18 years of age. The first places a “duty of care” on large social media companies, giving them the power to harm young users. The latter lifts the enforcement years of the 1998 COPPA law and adds new rules on topics such as targeted advertising. Versions of both bills passed the Senate in July. Now that they have passed the House committee, they can go on to a floor vote, after which they may need to reconcile with their colleagues in the Senate before moving on to President Joe Biden’s desk – where Biden has indicated that he will sign them.
Earlier this year, it was not clear that KOSA would vote for the House. Although it passed the Senate by a large margin, a Punchbowl News The report suggested that House Republicans have concerns about the bill. The House version of KOSA diverges significantly from its Senate counterpart, however, and several lawmakers have expressed a desire for change before the full House vote. Both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 saw last-minute changes voted down in committee, leading some lawmakers to protest or withdraw support.
The House KOSA amendment changed the list of risks that major social media companies must prevent. It removed the duty of care to reduce “anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and suicidal behavior” and added one to emphasize “encouraging inherently dangerous acts that may cause serious physical harm, serious emotional distress.” , or death.”
The change received a lot of criticism. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who said he would vote for the bill “reluctantly,” complained that the amendment could lead to regulatory agencies censoring potentially “disturbing” content. “Doesn’t all political speech cause some kind of emotional distress in those who disagree with it?” he argued. (Crenshaw supports lower restrictions on young people’s social media access.) Conversely, a number of lawmakers were concerned that removing conditions such as depression would make the bill ineffective in addressing the alleged psychological harm of children’s social media.
KOSA Cosponsor Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), who sponsored the amendment, said she offered a “weakened” version of the bill with the intention of moving it to a full House vote. But neither version seems likely to satisfy critics who say the bill would allow regulators to pressure companies to block children’s access to content some executives don’t like. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and others have expressed concern that they would allow a Republican president to crack down on abortion- and LGBTQ+-related content, while some Republican lawmakers are concerned that a Democratic president would crack down. aunt-abortion messages and other follow-up speech.
The vote on COPPA 2.0 was less contentious. But Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) questioned a House provision that would allow parents to get information about their children’s social media use from Web site users, even if it’s against the child’s wishes. Pallone warned the law could allow abusive parents to monitor what a child goes online. “In a bill that is supposed to provide more privacy protections for teenagers, Congress is creating, in my view, a backdoor where parents can snoop on every click on the Internet of their teens,” he said. “Young people have a right to privacy too.”