Senate passes Kids Online Safety Act 91-3
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The U.S. Senate passed sweeping online protections for children on a 91-3 vote Tuesday. The bipartisan legislation forces social media companies to make their platforms safer for kids.
"That persistence of the parents who never gave up has paid off," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), after the vote.
Parents of children who died by suicide, drug overdoses or eating disorders after cyberbullying helped push for the legislation.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said companies will have to stop aggressively targeting kids with dangerous content.
"A message that we're sending to Big Tech: kids are not your product," Blackburn said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said the measure also blocks more personal information from companies and allows users or their guardians to delete a minor's information.
"I love that eraser button because every now and then, I've noticed teenagers lie," Cassidy said.
However, dozens of groups argue the legislation would cause more harm to the young users it's trying to protect, especially those in the LGBTQ community.
"Unfortunately, it's effectively a blank check for censorship of any piece of content that an administration could claim is harmful for kids," said Evan Greer, the director of Fight for the Future.
Greer worries the measure is so broad that a hypothetical Trump administration could use it to ban resources for transgender youth.
"We should take them at their word and ensure that we're not passing legislation that basically greases the wheel or paves the way for Project 2025-style attacks on vulnerable communities," they said.
Greer vows to continue their work to kill the legislation as it moves to the House, where members are gone on recess until September.
After Tuesday's vote, President Joe Biden urged the House to send the measure to his desk.
Some tech companies, including Microsoft, X and Snap, support the effort, while Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has not taken a position.