The U.S. House passed H.R. 7757 – KIDS Online Safety Act (KOSA), marking the first time a version made it out of the lower chamber. The package, taken from portions of 14 digital safety bills, was brought to the floor under a fast-track process called suspension of the rules, which requires twothirds majority support for passage.
The bill passed in a 267117 vote, with 47 not voting, advancing legislation that supporters say will better protect children online but critics warn could threaten privacy and free expression. According to its sponsors, KOSA would protect children and hold major tech companies accountable, require new safety features and parental controls on online platforms, restrict the use of a minor’s data for targeted advertising, require age verification for porn websites and establish new rules for AI chatbots and online games.
Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) issued the following statement after the House passed the bill, saying, “'While I voted against H.R. 7757 – KIDS Act, I appreciate the continued efforts to improve this legislation as we work to protect children from online exploitation, targeting, and abuse. It is essential, however, that we get this right. Any solution should prioritize empowering parents and preventing the targeted exploitation of minors while respecting the central role families play in safeguarding their children online.
“Although the bill contains meaningful provisions, including efforts to deal with age-verification requirements for pornography websites and other provisions that will better protect children online, significant concerns remain. The legislation creates different legal standards for ‘children’ and ‘teens’ rather than applying consistent protections to all minors, weakens parental authority, and establishes a federal preemption framework that could invite costly litigation against stronger state laws like those enacted in Texas, leaving states to spend years defending their laws in court instead of enforcing them.
“Most importantly, the legislation establishes circumstances in which technology companies may communicate directly with teenage users in ways that bypass parents. I cannot support a framework that weakens parental involvement in decisions affecting their children's online safety.”
Critics say the government is attempting to assert the power to decide people can build and run platforms for speech on the internet or communicate online which could have broader implications, since anyone who operates one of these platforms has to decide which security measures make sense and which would put too great a burden on users’ ability to communicate, either by imposing excessive surveillance, banning too many people or cutting off useful features. Those choices are protected by the First Amendment. The government is now trying to seize the authority to force a different balance, to demand restrictions on speech in the name of greater security.
According to Zach Lilly, NetChoice director of government affairs, “All of these bills degrade privacy and security, materially diminish the First Amendment protections that young people and adults have a full right to as Americans, and bring the United States more in line with a global effort to undermine the free and open internet,” Lilly said on X, while the KIDS Act is well intentioned, the House took a major step in asserting federal influence over online speech.
It now heads to the Senate, where it will face an uphill battle after the House made changes to KOSA’s duty of care provision, which would have legally required platforms to “exercise reasonable care” to prevent harms to minors.
It also would implement new requirements for data brokers’ handling of kids’ data, along with updating the existing Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to expand privacy protections. The exact policies and procedures platforms must maintain have not been spelled out, though the enforcement lies with the Federal Trade Commission and all 50 states, which can sue any platform they claim violates the rules.