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Children's health and development

Kids Online Safety Act advances unanimously from the Senate Commerce Committee

Bipartisan legislation from Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn seeking to improve the mental health impacts of social media on children moves closer to becoming law.

Date created: August 9, 2023 2 min read
Cite This Article
American Psychological Association. (2023, August 9). Kids Online Safety Act advances unanimously from the Senate Commerce Committee. https://www.apaservices.org/advocacy/news/kids-online-safety-act

A group of kids on their mobile devices

On July 27, 2023, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation, and Infrastructure passed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) out on a unanimous vote, moving it closer to becoming law. This bill, sponsored by Senators Blackburn (R–Tennessee) and Blumenthal (D–Connecticut) aims to curb the harms associated with social media use noted in APA’s recent health advisory on social media use in adolescence. 

KOSA aims to achieve five main goals:

  • place responsibility on social media companies to prevent and mitigate harms to minors resulting from use of their platforms;
  • require companies to develop and deploy new parental controls that provide education and options to parents and children to further identify and report harmful behaviors on social media;
  • change the default security and privacy settings for young users, including developing new protections that further shield minors from harmful product features;
  • require social media companies to conduct and distribute an annual independent audit that demonstrates the risks to minors on their platform, along with compliance with the comprehensive Kids Online Safety Act; and
  • increase research using data from companies into the impacts of the platforms on safety and well-being of minors.

In June 2023, APA Services hosted more than 60 advocates from across the country to meet with their members of Congress to advocate for passage of this legislation. These meetings helped to bolster KOSA’s list of bipartisan co-sponsors to 44. Following the June summit, APA Services led a coalition of more than 200 organizations (PDF, 481KB) to send a letter to Senate leaders asking for swift passage of KOSA. Each action contributed to KOSA’s ultimate success in the Senate Commerce Committee.

APA Services continues to work to ensure KOSA’s consideration by the full Senate this fall before moving the bill to the House. This exciting progress represents another step in the efforts to keep kids safe online.

A full recording of the Senate Commerce hearing is available online.

For more information, contact Corbin Evans.

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