WASHINGTON—Heritage Action, a grassroots organization with more than two million conservative activists nationwide, today issued a Key Vote urging lawmakers to vote for the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, (S. 1409) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S. 1418). The U.S. Senate is expected to combine both bills into one package this week, marking one of the most significant steps to curb the power of Big Tech companies in American history.
Heritage Action Executive Vice President Ryan Walker released the following statement announcing the Key Vote:
“American children are not for sale. But for years, Big Tech companies have taken advantage of the addictive nature of their platforms to keep kids scrolling and exploit the value of their data at the expense of kids’ mental health.
“Protecting children and young adults from online threats is one of the biggest issues of our time, so it should be a no-brainer for senators who care about the next generation to support KOSA and COPPA 2.0. Heritage Action thanks Sen. Blackburn for spearheading this effort and encourages senators to vote for this substantial and necessary package.”
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) are two crucial ways to curb the destructive power of Big Tech companies, a goal Heritage has supported for years. Kara Frederick, a former Facebook executive and now the director of the Tech Policy Center at The Heritage Foundation, has hailed KOSA for mitigating “...future fallout from Big Tech’s reckless push for growth at the expense of America’s kids.”
Social media platforms are highly addictive and have a proven link to poor mental health outcomes in children and teens, especially teenage girls. A 2023 University of North Carolina study found that social media use can rewire the brains of children as young as 12 years old.
KOSA and COPPA 2.0 are popular solutions to glaring problems. Nearly 80% of American parents want to have administrator-level access to what their kids see online provided to them by tech companies.
By issuing a Key Vote, lawmakers are notified that their position on this legislation will affect their score on the Heritage Action Scorecard, which shows voters and activists how conservative lawmakers are by comparing their policy priorities to those of Heritage Action. The scores of lawmakers who oppose S. 1409 and S. 1418 will be negatively impacted.
Senate offices will be notified today and the language below will be shared with lawmakers and staff.
KEY VOTE: “YES” on the Motion to concur with the House-passed S.2073, which now includes amendment #3021 (Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (S. 1409) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) (S. 1418)
Heritage Action supports the Motion to concur with the House-passed S.2073, which now includes amendment #3021 (Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (S. 1409) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) (S. 1418) and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.
Data shows that American children are more anxious, lonely, depressed, and suicidal because of the amount of time they spend on their phones and social media. Social media companies are fully aware of the destructive impact their products have on children and teens, yet they continue to redouble their efforts to entrap the next generation in Big Tech’s addictive grip. Sadly, the U.S. has done very little to curtail the harm tech companies cause to our children. The current tools for users to report Big Tech’s abuses and hold them accountable are difficult to find and navigate. And worse, tech companies are unresponsive or fail to resolve the abuse. The motion to concur includes two key pieces of legislation to protect America’s children online: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (S. 1409) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) (S. 1418).
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) fills a vacuum in protecting America’s children in three key areas: providing platform accountability, increasing transparency, and empowering users in the form of parental controls and user safeguards. KOSA requires platforms to take reasonable measures to design and operate their products to prevent and mitigate anxiety, depression, eating disorders, violence, online bullying, and sexual exploitation, among other toxic effects on children. KOSA also requires platforms to share its policies and practices related to user data in a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand manner. Furthermore, KOSA requires platforms to allow users to opt out of a personalized-recommendation system and limit categories of recommendations. It also requires platforms to provide accessible and easy-to-use tools that allow kids and their parents to limit notifications, who can contact them, the amount of time they can spend on the platforms, and restrict the sharing of their geolocation. Critically, under this bill, parents have the final say in their child’s privacy and account settings.
The bill holds Big Tech accountable to these standards by allowing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and states’ attorneys general offices to pursue tech platforms that fail to provide parents with options to protect their child’s information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of algorithmic recommendations. It also creates a “duty of care” for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harms to minors, such as content that promotes self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation.
The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) would strengthen protections for teenagers’ personal data. Currently, 93% of teens use social media, which collects and uses personal data on its users without requirements for consent and opting out of certain practices.[1] COPPA 2.0 updates existing law passed in 1998, before social media. It increases the age of protected minors from 12 to 16 and prohibits the collection of data on children for unauthorized purposes (including targeted advertising), requires online notices of data collection and user rights, provides teens and parents of children (under 13) with the right to request deletion or correction of personal information, and changes the knowledge standard from actual knowledge to actual or fairly implied knowledge that a user is a minor.
Under current law, social media platforms evade compliance by writing in their policy that users under age 13 are prohibited from using their services, however they do very little to enforce the policy. Nearly 70% of children under age 13 use social media.[2] COPPA 2.0 better protects America’s children by increasing the age of those covered by the law’s protections to 16 and puts social media platforms on the hook for compliance.
Together, KOSA and COPPA 2.0 are major steps toward reining in Big Tech and empowering parents.
Heritage Action supports the Motion to concur with the House-passed S.2073, which now includes amendment #3021 (Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (S. 1409) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) (S. 1418) and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.
BACKGROUND:
The Heritage Foundation: Parents to Big Tech: “We Want Our Children Back!”
The Heritage Foundation: Social Media Is Hurting Kids, but a Fix May Be on Horizon
Senator Marsha Blackburn: WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Growing Momentum For The Kids Online Safety Act