Senate Reintroduces Kids Online Safety Act

On May 14, 2025, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was reintroduced for the 119th Congress by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) with support from U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).^Footnote1

Background

In the 118th Congress, the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA)—a legislative package that includes two bills: KOSA and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)—with a bipartisan 91–3 vote.^Footnote2 The Senate version of KOSA mandated that online platforms, defined as "covered platforms," have a "duty of care" for minors using their platforms. Covered platforms would be required to provide minors with "readily accessible and easy-to-use safeguards" to mitigate harms that are frequently associated with minors' use of the platforms (including, but not limited to, cyberbullying, mental health disorders, and sexual exploitation). The Senate version of KOSA also required covered platforms to provide options for deleting the accounts of minors and any personal data collected. Additionally, it explicitly excluded higher education institutions and libraries from the definition of "covered platforms."

In September 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup session on KOSPA. During this session, Republican committee members revised the Senate version of the bill. The revised version limited the "duty of care" application to "high-impact companies"—platforms that earn $2.5 billion annually or have 150 million monthly active users—amid concerns about First Amendment challenges from tech firms. Democrats on the committee opposed this change, arguing that it effectively gutted the bill.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill out of committee during markup, but progress stalled afterward due to the 2024 Congressional election recess period. Both the House and Senate made a last-minute effort to include provisions of KOSPA in the end-of-year government funding bill, but the provisions were ultimately left out, and KOSPA did not pass in the 118th Congress.^Footnote3

Reintroduction

The Senate reintroduced its version of KOSA in the 119th Congress, while COPPA 2.0 was reintroduced separately in March 2025.^Footnote4

The 119th Congress version of KOSA includes an additional subclause in Section 102 that restricts government entities from enforcing the duty of care provision on companies "based on the viewpoint of users expressed by or through any speech, expression of information protected by the First Amendment. . . ." The changes were first announced in December 2024 during negotiations between Senators Blackburn, Blumenthal, and X while KOSPA was being considered for the year-end funding bill. According to the Senators, the changes aim to "strengthen the bill while safeguarding free speech online and ensuring it is not used to stifle expression."^Footnote5

Excluding these changes, the reintroduced KOSA largely retains the language of the version introduced in the 118th Congress, mandating that covered platforms have a duty of care to protect and mitigate harm to minors. Although higher education institutions and libraries are still excluded from the definition of "covered platforms" in the bill, it remains unclear to EDUCAUSE whether such institutions can be subject to the requirements of the bill if they use material from other "covered platforms" on their own applications and websites.

Despite the revisions, the 119th Congress version of KOSA faces an uncertain future. Congress passed its massive budget reconciliation bill in early July, and legislators will now focus on passing government funding legislation. That said, KOSA may still garner strong bipartisan support, as it did in the 118th Congress, potentially increasing its chances of receiving a floor vote. EDUCAUSE will continue to monitor for updates related to KOSA and other online safety and data privacy legislation.

Notes

1. Kids Online Safety Act, S. 1748, 119th Congress (2025). Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩
2. Jen Ortega, "Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act Passes Senate, House Committee Passes New Version," EDUCAUSE Review, October 28, 2024. Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.↩
3. Bailey Graves, "Senate Reintroduces Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act," EDUCAUSE Review, April 10, 2025. Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.↩
4. Ibid. Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.↩
5. S. 1748, 119th Congress (2025); Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal, "Blackburn, Blumenthal Statement on New 'X' Negotiation KOSA Text," Marsha Blackburn U.S. Senator for Tennessee (website), December 7, 2024. Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.↩

Bailey Graves is Senior Associate at Ulman Public Policy.