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WASHINGTON — Senators overwhelmingly approved long-awaited legislation that aims to shield children from dangerous content online on Thursday, with Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee casting one of only three "nay" votes.
The bill, which passed 91-3, would be the first major federal regulations of tech companies in decades, and comes as lawmakers — in Washington and in statehouses across the country — are growing increasingly aggressive in reining in Big Tech over alleged harms to children. The Kids Online Safety Act would require companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on platforms frequently used by minors, requiring them to exercise "duty of care" and ensure they generally default to the safest settings possible.
The legislation, called KOSA, was led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, and was cosponsored by Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.
"Social media is making our young people more vulnerable to cyberbullying, addiction, and long-term mental health challenges," the Utah Republican said. "Large tech companies have failed to institute measures to adequately protect children and teenagers from these hazards, and we have little indication that things will change without legislative action. I'm proud to join a majority of my colleagues in cosponsoring this legislation which would require social media companies to equip parents and their children with the necessary tools to keep themselves safe online."
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox — who has led efforts to rein in social media giants at the state level — thanked Romney for his "leadership in this important policy area."
"We want to empower parents so they can better protect their children from the harms of social media and this legislation does that," Cox said.
Senators also approved the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, commonly referred to as COPPA 2.0, which would enhance online privacy protections for anyone under the age of 17 and prohibit companies from targeting kids and teens with advertising.
Lee, who voted against the package along with Sens. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, explained his vote on the bill in a post on X, saying the bill doesn't go far enough to protect children from "online pornographers" and an amendment he proposed to require adult websites to verify the ages of users was not brought up for a vote.
"The Kids Online Safety Act ... fails to meaningfully address the most urgent threats to America's children online, while opening the door to political censorship by the federal government. I cannot support it," he said. He said the bill "empowers the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to censor any content it deems to cause 'harm,' 'anxiety,' or 'depression,' in a way that could (and most likely would) be used to censor the expression of political, religious, and other viewpoints disfavored by the FTC."
The senator went on to say the bill relies on definitions from the American Psychological Association, which he called "an extreme and politically driven organization that supports gender-transition treatment for children and the declassification of pedophilia as a mental-health disorder."
The association, which is the largest professional association for psychologists in the world, defines pedophilia as a paraphilia, or "any of a group of disorders in which unusual or bizarre fantasies or behavior are necessary for sexual excitement."
A statement from the group in 2013 explained it doesn't "classify mental disorders or publish the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual," which is used by professionals to diagnose mental disorders. The manual is published by the American Psychiatric Association, not the American Psychological Association.
Social media is making our young people more vulnerable to cyberbullying, addiction, and long-term mental health challenges.
–Sen. Mitt Romney
"The American Psychological Association maintains that pedophilia is a mental disorder; that sex between adults and children is always wrong; and that acting on pedophilic impulses is and should be a criminal act," the organization's statement continues. "The American Psychological Association has worked for many years to prevent child sexual abuse and will continue to do so."
The American Psychological Association issued a policy statement on gender-related treatment for individuals in February, and opposed state bans on such care, which it said "are contrary to the principles of evidence-based healthcare, human rights and social justice, and which should be reconsidered in favor of policies that prioritize the well-being and autonomy of transgender, gender-diverse and nonbinary individuals."
"There's an urgent need for Congress to take real action to protect our children from the threats they face online," Lee said. "If our counterparts in the House of Representatives can amend this bill to address the serious (but very fixable) flaws I've identified, and send it back to the Senate, I will enthusiastically vote for an improved version of KOSA in the future."
Some critics of the child safety bill have raised First Amendment concerns similar to Lee's, and others have said the legislation could harm kids who wouldn't be able to access information on LGBTQ+ issues or reproductive rights — although the bill has been revised to address many of those criticisms and major LGBTQ+ groups have supported the proposal.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has said he is "committed to working to find consensus," but the bill's future is uncertain after passing the Senate. The bill has been stalled in the Senate for several months, and the two lead sponsors have worked closely with the parents of children who have been harmed by social media — by cyberbullying or social media challenges, extortion attempts, eating disorders, drug deals or other potential dangers.
At an emotional news conference last week, the parents said they were pleased the Senate is finally moving ahead with the legislation.
Maurine Molak, the mother of a 16-year-old who died by suicide after "months of relentless and threatening cyberbullying," said she believes the bill can save lives. She urged every senator to vote for it.
"Anyone who believes that children's well-being and safety should come before big tech's greed ought to put their mark on this historic legislation," Molak said.
