Over the course of just 48 hours, Congress moved more aggressively on child online safety than it has in nearly a decade—and a federal court quietly reminded everyone that the entire framework might not survive a constitutional challenge that pits safety against privacy.
On March 4, the App Store Accountability Act passed 26-23 out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The following day, the same committee advanced the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act—a package including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)—to the full House floor in a party-line 28-24 vote. Meanwhile, the Senate simultaneously passed Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 2.0 unanimously. For the first time in years, both chambers of a divided Congress moved on children’s digital safety in the same week. While the government might be making the rules, social media companies are now struggling to keep up and are walking a fine line between privacy and safety.
The pressure on social media companies to do something about minors on their platforms long predates either act. Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube have faced years of congressional hearings, state attorneys general investigations, and now a mounting wave of personal injury litigation alleging their platforms knowingly exposed children to harmful content and addictive design features.
