US lawmakers are moving closer to passing a legislative package aimed at protecting kids online, and some tech companies are already taking steps to update their platforms.

The Kids Online Safety Act and Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 advanced out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee on Sept. 18 with bipartisan support. The pending legislation would require social media platforms to enable their strongest privacy settings for kids by default.

KOSA is designed to hold social media companies more accountable for potential harm caused to minors using their platforms. It also would enable the federal government to investigate and sue websites believed to cause children psychological distress. COPPA 2.0 is focused more on strengthening data protection and marketing limits.

While the bills both passed the Senate 91-3 in July, Rep. Gus Bilrakis, R-Fla., said some language in KOSA needed to be changed to ensure the bill could withstand expected legal challenges from Big Tech companies. The Senate version of KOSA included a duty of care provision that would require online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, such as content promoting suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for products such as tobacco and alcohol. For the House version, bill co-author Bilrakis removed that provision and instead added one that would block the "promotion of inherently dangerous acts that are likely to cause serious bodily harm, serious emotional disturbance, or death."

While the change attracted criticism from some lawmakers and consumer advocates, many want the legislation to move forward, even if it requires certain concessions.

"l vote for this reluctantly," said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, who voiced support for the parental controls and age verification methods outlined in the bill. "We all agree on one thing, that the intent here is to protect our kids. I think the evidence is clear that social media is a net harm for kids. But I also believe in simple common-sense solutions for complex problems."

Industry action

Some tech platforms seem to be revising their privacy protocols in anticipation of the legislation passing into law. For instance, Meta Platforms Inc.'s Instagram LLC, a popular social media platform with short-form video and photo-sharing capabilities, recently announced a series of updates for minors using its service. The changes include imposing tighter restrictions on teens' platform interactions and making accounts private by default for users younger than 17 years old.

Market Intelligence did not receive responses to requests for comment from Snap Inc.'s Snapchat or Beijing ByteDance Telecommunications Co. Ltd.'s TikTok Inc. about the role of social media platforms in safeguarding children online.

The pending federal legislation would set a new tech industry standard, said Ron Kerbs, CEO of Kidas, which develops AI-powered text and voice communication tools to protect online users from cyberbullying.

"Competitors will likely feel pressure to adopt similar protections to maintain user trust and comply with emerging regulations," Kerbs told Market Intelligence after Instagram's announcement. "This kind of proactive step can foster a more comprehensive culture of safety across all social media platforms."

Complications of compromise

After advancing out of the committee, the bills next must pass a House floor vote to proceed. Assuming the House and Senate each pass their own version of the bills, a conference committee would be assigned to reconcile the differences. The new, unified bill then would need to be approved by both chambers.

The authors of the Senate's KOSA bill expressed their support for the passage of the House's companion package.

"The House Energy and Commerce Committee's passage of KOSA is a positive step towards protecting our children online," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R.-Tenn., said in a joint statement. "While we still have more work to do on KOSA, we are pleased that we are one step closer to having this legislation signed into law before the end of the 118th Congress."

Given the upcoming presidential election, consumer advocates said there is not a lot of time to get the bills passed before the end of the year.

"I'm fearful of our chances of getting anything done on this issue, because, you know, in January, they'll have to start all over," said Melissa Henson, vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council, in an interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence. "Even though we are dealing with a significantly diluted version of the Kids Online Safety Act, I'm hopeful that if this passes out of committee, and if this passes a floor vote, that they'll be able to hammer out some of the differences in conference committee and bring, ultimately, a bill out of that that is closer to what the Senate passed."

Others argued stronger legislation is necessary now to prevent future harm to children.

Amy Neville, a parent whose 14-year-old son Alexander died of a fentanyl overdose after allegedly obtaining pills from a drug dealer he connected with on social media in 2020, told Market Intelligence she was blindsided by last-minute changes to the House bill, including the narrower duty of care provision.

"It's insulting that they would make these sweeping changes, especially to the duty of care, that essentially would not help kids like my son and thousands of other kids," Neville said. "When I read the changes, I really don't understand who this bill helps, other than Big Tech at this point. We have to keep pushing for real changes."

Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the committee, joined with Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in saying they would not support KOSA without provisions that would govern content that could induce depression, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders and suicidal behaviors. Democrats also pushed for data minimization measures and limiting the access of minors' data to third-party data brokers.

Bilrakis, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of passing a law that could not only get through Congress but also survive potential court challenges. The revised duty of care covers sexual exploitation and "inherently dangerous" activities, such as viral "challenges" that encourage self-harm or suicidal behavior.

"The duty for companies should be to prevent harmful conduct and content we know to be unconstitutional," Bilrakis said.