Hi Friend –

We got a lot of notes and responses to our last email about the recently updated Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). We always appreciate folks replying to our emails, and we try our best to respond to everyone!

Since KOSA now has over 60 co-sponsors [1] in the U.S. Senate — meaning it has the votes needed to pass out of the chamber — we wanted to share some of the key questions we received to help you get to know this bipartisan bill to provide young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect themselves against online harms.

Why do we need KOSA now?

• Young people today are facing a mental health crisis [2] fueled in part by Big Tech and social media’s addictive and exploitative features. Congress hasn’t passed internet protections for kids in over 25 years.

Will KOSA suppress LGBTQ+ or abortion content online?

• New updates to KOSA released on February 15 address concerns from organizations to narrow the duty of care to design features and change its enforcement from state attorneys general to the regulatory agency of the FTC.

• In response to these significant changes, organizations including the National Center for Transgender Equality and GLAAD withdrew their opposition to KOSA. [3]

How will KOSA change what young people see online?

• KOSA would give young people more control over what they see online by requiring platforms to allow young people to opt-out of addictive features and algorithms.

• While platforms use opaque algorithms to fuel personalized recommendations, KOSA requires platforms to “exercise reasonable care” when designing these systems to mitigate a narrow list of harms to kids “consistent with evidence-informed medical information.”

• KOSA does not prevent online platforms from allowing “any minor from deliberately and independently searching for, or specifically requesting, content” or “providing resources for the prevention or mitigation of the harms described.”

Will KOSA require kids to upload their IDs to use the internet?

• No, KOSA does not require platforms to complete age verification [4] or collect more data about kids via government IDs. KOSA only requires social media companies to provide greater privacy and safety protections to kids that platforms have already identified as under the age of 17 in their systems.

For years now, Big Tech companies have quietly preyed on young people online, harvesting and collecting their intimate data for profit and designing platforms to keep them clicking – regardless of the threats to their health, privacy, and safety. We have an opportunity now to protect kids online with KOSA.

Send an email to your senators to urge them to support this legislation. If you've already emailed your senators, forward this email along to a friend or family member who would be interested in learning more about how Congress is working to protect kids online.

Thank you for joining us in the effort to ensure our kids' safety online.

Onward,

Nicole Gill
Co-founder and Executive Director
Accountable Tech

Chip in to support our work holding Big Tech accountable: CHIP IN

1. Washington Post: Senate poised to pass biggest piece of tech regulation in decades
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health
3. Blade: LGBTQ groups drop opposition to Kids Online Safety Act
4. PolitiFact: Proposed online safety act does not require websites to verify government IDs

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