Happy Thursday! I’ll be interviewing FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel at SXSW in a couple weeks. Drop me a line if you’re attending too (or have food recommendations for Austin): cristiano.lima@washpost.com.
Earlier this month, a group of senators announced they secured more than 60 co-sponsors for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a sprawling measure requiring tech companies to take steps to prevent harms to children on their sites and beef up their privacy and safety settings.
The milestone signaled that backers had clinched enough support to clear it out of the Senate, a step that would make it the most significant piece of internet regulation to do so in decades.
But now a group of lawmakers is pushing to couple the proposal with a separate bill banning kids under 13 from social media altogether, which could muddle the talks.
In April, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) unveiled the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, which would establish that age minimum and require that parents consent for teens 13 to 17 to access social media. The bill would also prohibit platforms from deploying algorithms to feed content to kids under 18.
The lawmakers behind it, all fathers or mothers, billed it as a way to keep kids safe online and empower their parents.
The measure resembled recent laws in GOP-led states like Utah and Arkansas restricting kids from accessing social media — but diverged from other state and federal efforts to force companies to build more safeguards for children and controls for parents, like KOSA.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a KOSA lead sponsor, criticized the Schatz bill at the time, saying it “appears to shift responsibility from tech companies to parents.” Digital rights and tech industry groups also spoke out against the bill, arguing it would infringe on younger users’ rights, bar them from partaking in positive online communities and force companies to collect far more data.
Schatz is now pushing for a key Senate panel to take up his bill to potentially pair it with KOSA, a prospect that’s prompting concern among some that it could bog down talks.
Schatz said Wednesday he’s “working toward a markup” with Senate Commerce Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who voiced support for taking up the bill last year, and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), the top Republican on the committee.
“We’re feeling optimistic that we can land this bill on a bipartisan basis,” Schatz said. Cantwell and Cruz each confirmed on Wednesday they are discussing the possibility.
Schatz argued coupling his and other child safety bills on the floor made the most sense.
“I imagine there’s only going to be one moment for all of the tech bills,” he said. “I imagine that all of these efforts are going to be merged in the floor process.”
But the proposal to ban kids under 13 from social media is facing significant roadblocks, with its lead Republicans pulling back their support, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke anonymously to discuss the private deliberations.
The bill is also undergoing major potential revisions. A recent updated draft, obtained by The Technology 202, stripped the measure’s provisions requiring that parents sign off for their teens to access social media and forcing companies to verify the ages of its users.
The bill would still prohibit those under 13 from having social media accounts and limit algorithmic recommendations for those under 17. Many social media platforms already prohibit users under 13 from joining, but the bill would make it a legal requirement.
The draft lists only Schatz as a sponsor. Spokespeople for Britt and Murphy declined to comment. Spokespeople for Cotton did not return a request for comment.
Schatz declined to comment on the bill’s original co-sponsors on Wednesday, but said that “none of those changes have been finalized.”
“No decisions have been made until we get to the markup, but for me the objective here is to get something enacted into law, not to be the mayor of this issue,” he said. “If we have to make compromises along the way … I’ll do whatever I need to do to pass this damn thing.”
The renewed consideration of Schatz’s proposal is sparking concern among proponents of KOSA that it could delay its timetable for getting to the floor or even endanger its prospects for passage, one of the people and another familiar with the dynamics said.
Blumenthal said Wednesday that there are “good and very viable concepts” in Schatz’s bill, but he cautioned that “time is not on our side” when it comes to getting a vote in the Senate.
“We should move forward with the proposals that have the broadest support, but at the same time, have open minds about what may add value,” he said. “This process is the art of addition not subtraction often … but we should make sure that we’re not undermining the base of support.”
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- Semafor hosts an event, “Mapping the Future of Digital Privacy,” Thursday at 9 a.m.
- Punchbowl News hosts an event on AI policy with Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
- The Federal Communications Commission’s Space Bureau hosts open house event, “20 Years of Orbital Debris Mitigation,” Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
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