The Senate has passed the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act with strong bipartisan support in a 91-3 vote. The bills aim to provide data privacy protections for children and teens, including requiring online platforms to prevent harm to children under 13 and banning targeted advertising to those under 17. The bills had over 60 co-sponsors in the Senate and are seen as a win for senators ahead of the fall elections.
While the Senate showed overwhelming support for the bills, their fate in the House is less certain. The House has already started its August recess and will not return until after Labor Day. This leaves a short window for the bills to be passed before the end of the year, as lawmakers will be focused on other priorities. House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed support for the bills, but it remains to be seen if there will be enough floor time for them to be voted on.
One key difference between the House and Senate versions of the Kids Online Safety Act is the threshold for online platforms to comply with the “reasonable care” duty. The House’s version only applies to platforms with over $2.5 billion in yearly revenue or 150 million users. This could lead to differences between the two chambers that would need to be reconciled before the bills can become law. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has yet to hold a markup on its version of the bill, further complicating the outlook for passage.
There is a possibility that House lawmakers may decide to focus on passing a comprehensive data privacy bill instead of just the children’s online privacy legislation. This could delay the passage of the bills as lawmakers work to address a wider range of issues. Additionally, if the bills are passed and signed into law by President Biden, they may face legal challenges from industry groups like NetChoice, who have previously called the bills unconstitutional. This could further delay implementation of the legislation.
Overall, the fate of the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act remains uncertain as they move to the House for further consideration. While there is bipartisan support for the bills in the Senate, challenges may arise in the House due to differences in the proposed legislation and competing priorities for lawmakers. Industry groups may also present legal challenges to the bills, potentially prolonging the process of implementing new data privacy protections for children and teens. The bills represent an important step towards safeguarding young users online, but their journey to becoming law is far from certain.
