ICYMI: Cassidy Highlights Senate Passage of His COPPA Bill

WASHINGTON -U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) penned an op-ed in The Advocate highlighting the push to make his Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) law. The Senate passed the bill, along with the Kids Online Safety Act, in July with overwhelming bipartisan support.

"Parents are right to worry about the ways their children can be targeted online," wrote Dr. Cassidy. "But there is a reason to hope."

"We wrote a bill to protect children's privacy, and it is now inches away from becoming law. The Senate took a massive step toward protecting our children online by passing my Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act - or COPPA 2.0 - last month," continued Dr. Cassidy.

"The Senate leaped at the opportunity to pass these bills because there was a clear mandate from parents to do more," concluded Dr. Cassidy. "We listened and sent the bills to the House of Representatives. Now my hope is that the House will join us."

Read the full op-ed here or below.

Sen. Bill Cassidy: The Senate Passed My Bill to Protect Children Online. Now We Must Make It Law.

Parents are right to worry about the ways their children can be targeted online. We see the mental health challenges fueled by social media use, increasing data collection, and uncomfortably specific ads targeting our children.

But there is a reason to hope. We wrote a bill to protect children's privacy, and it is now inches away from becoming law.

The Senate took a massive step toward protecting our children online by passing my Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act - or COPPA 2.0 - last month. It's rare that the Senate votes 91-3 to pass anything, let alone a bill as pivotal as COPPA 2.0.

The original online privacy rules that protect our children were passed in 1998 and have not been updated since. How could rules written 25 years ago effectively govern social media sites that did not exist then?

The internet is now a part of children's everyday lives. The information a child has access to has drastically expanded with the internet, exposing children to risks they may not have the maturity to navigate independently. The internet has brought a lot of good and can be a great learning tool for our children, but adult content and pornography, cyberbullying, violence, predatory behavior and mental health impacts are threats that many parents feel powerless to protect their children against.

Parents should not be powerless when their children's privacy and health are at stake nor should our children be left to face these challenges alone. My mission was to make that a reality when writing the bill.

COPPA 2.0 establishes a ban on advertising targeted at children and teens. Algorithms track nearly every click from website to website or post to post and then create individualized profiles on a person's interests and desires. This data is then provided to advertisers who target ads at individuals.

Of course, the 1998 rules don't prohibit Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok from collecting personal information on young teenagers without consent. People were concerned about Y2K at the time and Nick Saban had not yet joined LSU's football team when they were written.

Our bill also expands protections to teenagers who are treated as adults online under current law. With 95% of teenagers between 13 and 17 using social media, we must ensure a teenager receives the same protections as any other minor. Additionally, it creates an "eraser button" for children who have had their data collected to ensure that data is deleted. This will give parents the peace of mind they deserve.

This, along with the Kids Online Safety Act, which empowers parents to prevent children from watching inappropriate content, will give parents peace of mind knowing their children are safer. The bill requires covered platforms, like social media sites, to provide controls that allow parents to supervise their children's activity and restrict access to their children's personal data. Online platforms will also be required to disclose data on their targeted advertising and personalized recommendation systems.

Everyone agreed we needed to update the rules to keep social media companies in check and give parents the power to defend their children. The Senate leaped at the opportunity to pass these bills because there was a clear mandate from parents to do more. We listened and sent the bills to the House of Representatives.

Now my hope is that the House will join us. We must place a shield between our children and the dangers they are exposed to on the internet.

Background

COPPA 2.0 would update online data privacy rules for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online. It modernizes and strengthens the only online privacy law for children, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Congress passed COPPA in 1998 to institute basic privacy protections for users under age 13, including notice and parental consent requirements. While COPPA took major steps towards safeguarding children's personal information on the internet, the law is overdue for an update in light of major changes in the online landscape. In particular, COPPA 2.0 would:

• Build on COPPA by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent;
• Ban targeted advertising to children and teens;
• Revise COPPA's "actual knowledge" standard to close the loophole that allows covered platforms to ignore kids and teens on their site;
• Create an "Eraser Button" by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate personal information from a child or teen when technologically feasible; and
• Establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens' data.

COPPA 2.0 is supported by over 100 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense Media, Design It For Us, Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action, Fairplay, National Education Association, National Parent Teacher Association, and U.S. PIRG.

Cassidy is also an original cosponsor of the Kids Online Safety Act, comprehensive bipartisan legislation to protect children online and hold Big Tech accountable. In February 2024, it was announced that over 60 senators had joined in cosponsoring the legislation. He has also highlighted the need to protect children's online privacy and address the youth mental health crisis.

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