Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn on Saturday received support from X to “strengthen the bill while protecting free speech online and ensuring it is not used to suppress expression.” announced amendments to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The Senate passed the bill by a 91-3 vote in July, but it has since stalled in the House, and advocates are pushing for it to pass by the end of the year. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Company X, also posted about the partnership and called on Congress and the House of Representatives to pass the bill.
In a post about X shared by both senators, Yaccarino said, “Working with the bill’s authors, we are confident that we will further protect free speech while keeping minors safe online. I’m proud to share that progress has been made.” KOSA aims to protect minors from “addictive” social media features and potentially dangerous content by imposing a “duty of care” on companies that own platforms. But critics say it could lead to censorship and other harm. According to The Verge, the new changes clarify the conditions under which a duty of care can be enforced, limit its scope to anxiety and depressive disorders, ensure that it is “objectively verifiable” and that “compulsive use ” must be linked to this.
Mr. Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mr. Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a joint statement:
These changes should completely eliminate the false narrative that this bill will be used as a weapon by unelected bureaucrats to censor the American people. We thank Elon and Linda for their bold leadership and commitment to protecting children online, and for helping us get this bill across the finish line this Congress. We appreciate that this approval and revised text reflects their publicly stated goal of promoting free speech without fear of censorship. We reiterate X’s call to pass KOSA by the end of the year. It is clear that this bill has overwhelming support from Congress.
KOSA was first introduced in February 2022 and has faced opposition from groups such as the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It has been revised many times.
