House Commerce Passes 2 Children’s Online Safety Bills

The House Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved a pair of kids’ online safety bills on a voice vote, opening the door for potential floor action and negotiations with the Senate.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (HR-7891), the more controversial of the two proposals, passed despite objections from ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and other Democrats. Pallone and his colleagues criticized leadership for amending the bill late Tuesday and filing what they said was a weaker version of the Senate's measure, which passed 91-3 in July (see 2407300042).

However, Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and proponents said committee passage allows for further negotiation and leverage for conferencing with the Senate as the bill moves to the floor. A teary-eyed Rodgers shared photos of several children who have died in social media-related incidents and suicides around the U.S. “These are not isolated incidents,” she said. “There are thousands of stories just like these.”

Pallone argued that committee members and advocates didn’t have time to fully vet the substitute amendment offered for KOSA on Tuesday afternoon. KOSA’s lead Democrat, Kathy Castor of Florida, said she supported moving the bill forward Wednesday but is undecided about the version as amended on the floor. Along with several Democrats and Republicans, Castor took issue with KOSA’s duty of care provision. The Senate version’s duty of care requires that social media companies implement design features that help prevent anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance-use disorders and suicidal behavior. That language was gutted in the latest House version, said Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash.

Schrier cited a letter from the Social Media Victims Law Center, arguing the House version essentially removes the duty of care provision. As such, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said she wished the committee had just marked up the Senate bill. Rodgers told us in July that the committee planned on considering its own version of KOSA and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) (HR-7890), despite Senate sponsors seeking immediate floor action in the House. DeGette on Wednesday recommended Rodgers pull the House version and spend a few weeks tweaking language for another markup.

COPPA 2.0’s lead Republican, Tim Walberg of Michigan, urged committee passage, though. Tech companies want these bills to “die,” so committee passage is necessary to maintain forward momentum, he said. He introduced COPPA 2.0 with Castor, who said the House version largely mirrors what the Senate passed in July, so less controversy should surround their proposal. Walberg said additional work is needed on COPPA 2.0’s knowledge standard and its state preemption provision. States should continue having the flexibility to pass their own online protections for children, he said.

House Innovation Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., KOSA’s lead Republican, defended the amended House version. Modest changes were made to ensure the bill would survive judicial scrutiny under the First Amendment, he said.

Pallone spoke of the need for the House to pass the committee’s comprehensive privacy bill, the American Privacy Rights Act. That bill, he said, includes stronger protections for children than the measure passed Wednesday. He criticized Republican leadership for “interfering” in the committee’s attempt to mark up APRA in June (see 2406270046).

Some committee members criticized Meta’s decision to unveil restrictions for teens on Instagram Tuesday (see 2409170037). Meta introduced Instagram Teen Accounts, restricting users who can contact teens and what content those teens see on the platform. Users younger than 16 will need parental consent to lift the restrictions. Castor said the company should have made those changes “years ago,” and Congress should continue moving forward with legislation, rather than waiting for platforms to “do the right thing.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Attorney General Letitia James (D) welcomed Instagram’s announcement and said social media restrictions passed in New York are pushing companies to make changes. They cited New York’s passage of the Safe for Kids Act (see 2406070065), which restricts algorithmic feeds and late-night notifications.

KOSA’s lead sponsors in the Senate, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., welcomed the House Commerce Committee vote but said in a joint statement that there’s “more work to do” on KOSA.

NetChoice, in a statement, said Congress is making the same mistake as several states that have passed unconstitutional online protections for children. “Courts across the country repeatedly halted these types of provisions,” said Amy Bos, state and federal affairs director. KOSA “represents false promises to families and will not make a single American ‘safer’ online.”