Kids Online Safety Bill Introduced
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a bipartisan kids online safety bill that eliminates a restriction many lawmakers have long fought for. The bill, known as the KIDS Act, has become the House vehicle for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), legislation that was first introduced by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in February 2022.
The compromise bill requires preemption of state laws weaker than the federal standard while letting states put stricter rules in place if they want to. It also allows for preemption of some state AI laws. However, the bill omits a key provision known as the duty of care standard, which would have mandated that online platforms take reasonable measures to prevent specific harms such as suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and cyberbullying by changing algorithm and design features.
Duty of Care Provision
The duty of care standard has long been sought by Democrats and some Republicans. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said in a statement,
“Without a duty of care, Big Tech companies will maintain the status quo of putting profit before the safety of our children,”and
“We need a strong federal standard in place that will ensure Big Tech companies can’t design their products to addict, exploit, and harm America’s children.”Despite its absence, 76 senators from across party lines have supported including a duty of care in the legislation.
Provisions of the Bill
The compromise package includes legislation that blocks minors from using disappearing messages, mandates that AI chatbots acknowledge that they are not human, and forces porn sites to use age verification technology. It also includes provisions regulating video games and a data broker registry for platforms receiving kids’ data.
Some digital freedoms experts were critical of the bill. Kate Ruane, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said aspects of the bill raise “serious constitutional concerns.” Ruane stated,
“Specifically, the bill will incentivize age verification to access online services, putting the privacy of all internet users — kids and adults alike — at risk, and it threatens Americans’ right to access constitutionally protected materials,”and
“All users, including kids, deserve strong privacy protections, not mandates to hand over more and more personal details whenever they go online.”
Next Steps
It is unclear how the Senate will proceed. Blackburn has been collaborating with the White House on her own version of an updated bill, which is expected to include a duty of care provision as well as rules meant to curtail AI deepfakes and to prevent minors from downloading apps without parental consent. The new updated iteration of the KIDS Act will reportedly be raised on the House floor as soon as next week.
Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) said in a statement,
“The bipartisan KIDS Act addresses the proven harms from online platforms ranging from social media to gaming to artificial intelligence and pornography, establishes new privacy protections for children and teens, and gives parents the necessary tools to fight back against Big Tech.”Months of negotiations have led to a “bipartisan agreement that would establish the strongest protections to date,” according to Guthrie.
Source: The Record