Marsha Blackburn

Fact vs. Fiction In The News Photos & Videos What is the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)? It’s no secret that children and teenagers are more glued to their screens than ever before. Children ages 8 to 12 spend an average of over 5 hours per day on their screens, while teenagers log over 8 hours every day. When your child is online, they are the product, and Big Tech is trying every method possible to keep them scrolling, clicking ads, and sharing every detail of their life. In today’s age of social media, the statistics on mental health issues among youth are staggering. Almost half of U.S. teens have experienced bullying or harassment online. Between 2010 and 2019, teen depression rates doubled, with teenage girls seeing the sharpest increase. In 2021, almost a third of girls said they seriously considered attempting suicide. Since Big Tech refuses to protect our children, it’s time for Congress to step in. The Kids Online Safety Act Will Keep Our Children Safer The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which passed the U.S. Senate 91-3, provides young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against online harms. The bill requires social media platforms to put the well-being of children first by providing an environment that is safe by default. Specifically, the Kids Online Safety Act: Requires social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations. Platforms are required to enable the strongest privacy settings for kids by default. Gives parents new controls to help protect their children and spot harmful behaviors, and provides parents and educators with a dedicated channel to report harmful behavior. Creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for certain illegal products (e.g. tobacco and alcohol). Ensures that parents and policymakers know whether online platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids by requiring independent audits and research into how these platforms impact the well-being of kids and teens. Bipartisan Support for KOSA The Kids Online Safety Act Has Broad Bipartisan Support Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal first introduced the Kids Online Safety Act in February 2022 following reporting by the Wall Street Journal and after spearheading a series of five subcommittee hearings with social media companies and advocates on the repeated failures by tech giants to protect kids on their platforms. Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal have stood their ground in the face of aggressive lobbying and flagrant lies from Big Tech companies, uniting 72 members of the U.S. Senate and gathering the endorsements of over 240 organizations, including parents, child safety advocates, tech experts, faith leaders, pediatricians, and child psychologists in support of the legislation. The bill passed the U.S. Senate in July 2024, with 91 Senators voting in favor of the bipartisan legislation. Social Media Click here for photos and b-roll of KOSA related activites.

Vote: YEA on Blackburn Amdt. No. 2814; To strike the section relating to support for artificial intelligence. - On the Amendment <measure>S.Amdt. 2814</measure>