Overcoming Fear and Frustration with the Kids Online Safety Act

John Perrino is a policy analyst at the Stanford Internet Observatory. Dr. Jennifer King is the Privacy and Data Policy Fellow at the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.  Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Testifies Before US Senate Commerce Committee Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), December 8, 2021. Drew Angerer/Getty Images The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has bipartisan support from nearly half the Senate and the enthusiastic backing of President Joe Biden, but opponents fear the bill would cause more harm than good for children and the internet.  Last week, we heard new promises to bring KOSA and other bills addressing children’s safety to a floor vote after a second Facebook whistleblower testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee with yet more details of how Meta leadership ignored evidence that Instagram was harming teens. The bill was updated and passed unanimously out of committee in late July, but civil liberties groups continue to raise concerns about privacy issues with age-based measures and “duty of care” requirements that could empower state attorneys general to file lawsuits prosecuting culture war issues, such as content recommendations related to gender identity and abortion. For parents and youth advocates, there is an obvious and urgent need to regulate the design of social media and similar online platforms. Many young people and parents know someone who has struggled with social media use and want technology companies to be held accountable. Teens have a complicated relationship with social media and parents are understandably concerned with…Overcoming Fear and Frustration with the Kids Online Safety Act