Senate poised to pass biggest piece of tech regulation in decades
With more than 60 backers, an updated Kids Online Safety Act finally has a path to passage in the Senate but faces uncertainty in the House

By Cristiano Lima-Strong
Updated February 15, 2024 at 11:57 a.m. EST | Published February 15, 2024 at 9:23 a.m. EST



Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) attend a rally after a hearing with Big Tech CEOs on Capitol Hill on Jan. 31. (Haiyun Jiang for The Washington Post)

After months of negotiations, senators announced Thursday that a sprawling bill to expand protections for children online had secured more than 60 backers, clearing a path to passage for what would be the most significant congressional attempt in decades to regulate tech companies.

The Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, first introduced in 2022, would impose sweeping new obligations on an array of digital platforms, including requiring that companies “exercise reasonable care” to prevent their products from endangering kids. The safeguards would extend to their use of design features that could exacerbate depression, sexual exploitation, bullying, harassment and other harms. ... The measure would also require that platforms enable their most protective privacy and safety settings by default for younger users and offer parents greater tools to monitor their kids’ activity.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) unveiled a fresh version of the bill Thursday with more than a dozen new co-sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), updating it in part to assuage long-running concerns by human rights groups that it could be weaponized to target LGBT youths and stifle speech online.

If passed, it would become the first major consumer privacy or child online safety measure to clear a chamber of Congress in decades. Congress has failed to pass major new internet laws despite years-long attempts to rein in Silicon Valley giants.

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Rachel Lerman contributed to this report.

By Cristiano Lima-Strong
Cristiano Lima-Strong is a tech policy reporter and author of The Washington Post's Technology 202 newsletter, focusing on the intersection of tech, politics and policy. His coverage focuses on privacy and children’s online safety. He previously served as a senior web producer, breaking news reporter and tech policy reporter for Politico. Twitter https://twitter.com/viaCristiano