Schumer plans to bring two major kids online safety bills to the Senate floor this week

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plans to denote successful a code that helium volition bring the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) to the Senate level this week for a procedural vote. This tees up the biggest measurement yet connected the national level to determination guardant with a instrumentality successful the country of kids' online information legislation.

“Over the past fewer months I’ve met with families from crossed the state who person gone done the worst happening a genitor could endure – losing a child,” Schumer said successful a statement. “Rather than retreating into the acheronian of their loss, these families lit a candle for others with their advocacy. I americium arrogant to enactment side-by-side with them and enactment connected the level authorities that I Believe volition walk and better support our children from the antagonistic risks of societal media and different online platforms. It has been agelong and daunting roadworthy to get this measure passed, which tin alteration and prevention lives, but today, we are 1 monumental measurement person to success.”

KOSA would enforce a work of attraction connected online platforms to instrumentality tenable steps to mitigate definite harms to minors, necessitate the enactment for parental controls for minors’ accounts, and forestall features similar autoplay. COPPA 2.0 would physique connected an existing children’s privateness law and rise the property for privateness protections from kids nether 13 to 17, and prohibition targeted advertizing to that group.

Some advocacy groups similar Fight for the Future and the Electronic Frontier Foundation person remained captious of KOSA, fearing it would stifle code crossed the net and could bounds entree to definite resources for marginalized kids connected ideological grounds. While different groups, including salient LGBTQ+ groups similar GLAAD and the Trevor Project, had antecedently raised concerns that KOSA could beryllium weaponized against resources for LGBTQ+ youth, they dropped their opposition aft the bill’s sponsors made respective changes.

Schumer had tried to walk the bills done unanimous consent — an expedited mode to walk authorities if nary legislator opposes it — but precocious past year, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced he’d reason specified a move, owed to concerns astir the earlier version’s interaction connected LGBTQ+ content. Still, the bills person overwhelming enactment that should guarantee their occurrence successful the enclosure truthful agelong arsenic they are fixed the clip to proceed. KOSA, for example, has for months had much than 60 co-sponsors, clearing the threshold needed to walk the chamber.