On July 31, the US Senate passed legislation to protect children from dangerous online content with an almost unanimous vote, but the fate of this bill in the House of Representatives is still uncertain. Two bills - the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act and the Kids Online Safety Act (referred to as COPPA2.0 and KOSA), need to be passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to become law.
The Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA2.0) will prohibit targeted advertising to minors and data collection without their consent, and allow parents and children to choose to delete their information from social media platforms.
Children are not your product, children are not your source of profit, and we will protect them in the virtual space, Republican co-sponsor Senator Marsha Blackburn said at a news conference after Tuesday's vote.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) will clearly stipulate the duty of care that social media companies have for the use of their products by minors, focusing on the design of the platform and the company's supervision.
Technology industry groups and the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized the bill, saying that different interpretations of harmful content may result in minors not being able to access content related to vaccines, abortion, or LGBTQ issues.