The Kids Online Safety Act: What it is and why is it controversial?
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This week, I want to talk about the controversial Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). This is the latest attempt in the United States legislature to try to respond to the ways that the internet can be used for illegal activities and can be generally harmful for children. This is not the first time that the legislature has worked to make the internet a safe place through regulation. One previous law which aimed to fight human trafficking online, The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA)/Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), passed in 2018. Sadly, it has been called out for making the internet more dangerous for sex workers and those who have been victims of sex trafficking, and making it more difficult to get information on sex education for young people. Indeed, there are concerns that the regulations from SESTA/FOSTA are hurting those it was meant to help. So what is KOSA and why am I bringing it up here?
What is KOSA?
According to the American Psychological Association, KOSA βwould establish a duty of care for social media companies to protect minors from mental health harms, sexual trafficking, and narcotics. Additionally, the bill would require companies to go through independent external audits, allow researcher access to platform data assets, and create substantial youth and parental controls to create a safer digital environment.β If social media sites do not sufficiently protect children under the age of 13 from harmful materials, they can be sued. According to Senator Blumenthal, one of the cosponsors, KOSA:
What is the controversy?
It sounds great to respond to the negative impacts of social media on children, which is why organizations such as the APA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Eating Disorders Coalition, and Mental Health America among others are supporting KOSA. As research builds on the impact of social media on youth, having social media regulations is imperative, as well as resources for parents on how to talk to children about social media safety. The question is how can you regulate social media sites? It is a complicated balance; the ACLU is coming out against the bill, for example, because it limits free speech. The reason we want to talk about it is what would this lawβs impact be on LGBTQIA+ youth?
There are fears that this bill will be used to censer LGBTQIA+ content on social media, based on comments by Sen. Blackburn, one of the coauthors of said bill. Indeed, the bill is being supported by such far-right, anti-LGBTQIA+ organizations such as the Heritage Foundation and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The Heritage Foundation said that they hope this bill will stop kids from seeing trans content. KOSA would empower state attorneys general to decide what is good for bad for kids. As we have talked about before on this blog, some attorneys general and state politicians are actively working to make the lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals worse. Filtering, which would be required for kids, tends to be overly broad, leading to many sites that provide information on LGBTQIA+ identities being blocks for children.
How does this impact your nonprofit?
If KOSA is passed, your nonprofit may be impacted based on the types of information which is on your website. For example, if you have information on your website about LGBTQIA+ issues, it may be targeted as needing age verification or blocked for younger people, depending on the final wording of the bill. Considering that approximately 92% of parental control programs block LGBTQIA+ content already, this bill would worsen the lack of access for children around LGBTQIA+ information. The ACLU has expressed concern that KOSA may lead social media companies to silence diverse viewpoints on important topics or stop discussions on these topics more generally, for fear of being sued.
There are many groups who are supporting this bill, and they have released their own statements. If your nonprofit works with kids or has information on LGBTQIA+ communities and identities, you will want to keep this on your radar. This is just an introduction to KOSA, and there will be amendments and changes made before it is voted on (if it gets a vote). Whatever your view on this topic, contact your Senator and your Congressperson. Reaching out on this, or other topics which are important to you, helps your representative make decisions on what to support and how to improve legislation.