“Will someone please think of the children!” That’s the main driving force behind the latest controversial, confusing, and outright worrying legislation making its way through the United States political system. On Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee approved the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) alongside a revised version of the already-passed Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). With bipartisan support, it will head to the Senate floor for a vote (date unknown).
KOSA, on just the surface, claims to make the internet a safer place. Introduced in February 2022, it attempts to hold all online platforms, from social media companies to video games, accountable for the harm that minors could experience while scrolling the web. It wants to force these companies to implement “readily-accessible and easy-to-use” parental controls,” adapt algorithmic recommendation systems to prioritize the best interests of minors,” and provide information about “algorithmic systems.”
The bill also claims to “limit the ability of other individuals to contact” minors through “safeguards” and ban kids 13 and under from using social media. These proposals are so vaguely worded that some worry they could force ID verification just to use the web.
