Senate Overwhelmingly Agrees to New Kids Online Privacy Protections, Final Passage Expected Early Next Week

07.25.24

Senate Overwhelmingly Agrees to New Kids Online Privacy Protections, Final Passage Expected Early Next Week

KOSA and COPPA 2.0 would ban targeting online advertising to children and give parents new tools to protect their kids online

WASHINGTON, DC -Today, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted by a vote of 86 to 1 to advance the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), clearing the way for final passage next week. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who was instrumental in crafting the package as Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, spoke on the Senate floor ahead of today's procedural vote:

"Families from all across America have come to the nation's Capital and said that they've lost children to suicide. They've had children harassed and bullied and had to leave school and move to a different location. They've had the safety and security of their children threatened," Sen. Cantwell said.

"So today is about advancing forward on privacy legislation aimed at protecting our children by giving new tools to the Federal Trade Commission -- new authority to take up this cause -- and to clearly outline what we in the United States Senate think needs to be done today to better protect children."

The Senate Commerce Committee previously passed both bipartisan bills through Cantwell's committee on July 27, 2023 and on July 27, 2022, the result of tireless work with bill sponsors, stakeholders, and parents whose children were harmed, to build consensus and support necessary to secure today's strong showing on the Senate floor.

According to a Harvard University study, social media companies generated $11 billion in revenue from advertising directed at children and teenagers in 2022, including nearly $2 billion in ad revenue derived from users age 12 and under.

In January 2023, Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the companies operating TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, SnapChat, and YouTube, seeking to hold the companies responsible for having created "digital environments that can negatively affect the mental and emotional health of our students."

The Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0): bans online companies from collecting personal information from users between 13 and 16 years old without their consent. It bans targeted advertising to children and teens and creates an eraser button for parents and kids to eliminate personal information online. The bill also establishes a Youth Marketing and Privacy Division at the FTC. In February, Sen. Cantwell joined as a bill cosponsor.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA): provides children and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency to protect against online harms. It establishes a duty of care for online platforms and requires them to activate the most protective settings for kids by default, providing minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt-out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.

As Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Cantwell has been a champion for securing data privacy protections. In March 2024, Sen. Cantwell and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, WA-5) unveiled draft legislation for the bipartisan American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) that would establish clear, national data privacy rights and protections for Americans, eliminate the existing patchwork of state comprehensive data privacy laws, and establish robust enforcement mechanisms to hold violators accountable, including a private right of action for individuals.

Video of Sen. Cantwell's floor speech is available HERE, audio HERE, and a transcript HERE.

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