Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)

The Kids Online Safety Act is the first step in addressing the negative impact of online platforms on the well-being of our children.

Call your Senators

and ask them to support the Kids Online Safety Act. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to one of your senators.

My name is [NAME] and I am a resident of [CITY]. I am calling to urge [NAME OF SENATOR] to create a safer internet for young people by supporting the Kids Online Safety Act (S.1409).

The business model of Big Tech is fundamentally opposed to children’s wellbeing. KOSA would provide important protections for young people as well as tools for families to hold Big Tech companies accountable for harming children.

[Consider adding a sentence or two to illustrate why this is important to YOUR family or how YOUR family has been challenged by manipulative tech practices that lure kids. For example, “As a parent/grandparent/caregiver/educator, I have seen first-hand… or I worry about xyz…”].

Please, help pass Senate Bill 1409 and to give American children and families the internet they deserve. Thank you.

Social media and big technology companies are prioritizing profits over the safety of children. The bipartisan act aims to make social media platforms safer by default, requiring these companies to implement measures for online safety. It also empowers parents with tools to safeguard their children’s online experiences. The legislation has gained support of many young people, parents, mental health experts, and advocates.

Specifically, the Kids Online Safety Act:

 

    • Mandates social media platforms to offer minors choices for safeguarding their data, disabling addictive features, and opting out of algorithm-driven suggestions. The default settings must prioritize maximum safety.
    • Empowers parents with enhanced controls to aid their children, detect harmful actions, and establishes a dedicated reporting channel for parents and children to communicate harms directly to the platform.
    • Imposes a duty on social media platforms to proactively prevent and address risks to minors, including the promotion of damaging content such as suicide, eating disorders, substance misuse, sexual exploitation, and age-restricted items like gambling and alcohol.
    • Compels social media platforms to conduct an annual independent audit that evaluates risks to minors, their compliance with the law, and the effectiveness of their measures in averting potential harms.
    • Grants academic and public interest organizations access to essential datasets from social media platforms, facilitating research focused on understanding and addressing threats to the safety and well-being of minors.