Senate Must Pass Bills to Protect Children’s Online Safety and Privacy

July 24, 2024

Senate Must Pass Bills to Protect Children's Online Safety and Privacy

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brought two children's online safety and privacy bills, The Kids' Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children's and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) to the floor for a vote.

These bills aim to protect minors from companies' data collection, targeted advertising and social media harms.

Richard Anthony,emerging technologies policy advocate at Public Citizen, issued the following statement in response:

"We now have ample, indisputable evidence that social media harms the mental health of teens. Immediate action from Congress is necessary to protect children and their online privacy.

"In light of the current crisis, Public Citizen thanks Majority Leader Schumer for his action in building safer online communities for minors by bringing two crucial bills, Kids' Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children's and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), to the Senate floor for a vote.

"These bills will go a long way towards curbing Big Tech's greedy impulse to target and track kids online. Public Citizen urges Senators to pass both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 during the upcoming floor vote."