Latest news with #KOSA
Boston Globe
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Democrats, don't risk free speech in the name of protecting kids
Senator Ed Markey voted in favor of KOSA in the last Congress, after it was Advertisement KOSA's supporters argue that it's about keeping children under 17 safe from the harms of social media. But at the heart of the bill is something everyone should oppose: empowering the government to decide what speech children should be forbidden from seeing online. KOSA's censorship provision is hidden in the bill's duty of care, which would require online platforms to take steps to avoid recommending content to minors that could harm them by causing suicidal behaviors, depression, anxiety, and more. To comply, platforms would have to suppress or delete potentially harmful content. But there's no consensus on what kind of speech is bad for kids. Many on the right argue that content about trans and gay people, abortion rights, and sex education hurts children. Supporters of KOSA like Republican Advertisement KOSA would give the FTC the power to enforce the duty of care against platforms, making it the ultimate decider of what content is harmful. But the current FTC is no unbiased arbiter. Earlier this year, Trump KOSA will create the perfect excuse for the FTC to investigate platforms that recommend disfavored content to children, and not just LGBTQ or reproductive rights content. It's not hard to imagine investigations of social media platforms that recommend content about gun control or vaccines that contradict what many Republicans believe. It's also not hard to imagine the agency using KOSA to target news reporting on topics like the Advertisement What's worse, the FTC won't even have to actually enforce KOSA for the censorship to start. As soon as the agency even hints that it may launch investigations, platforms will almost certainly move to comply in advance. If all this sounds far-fetched, just look at what's happened at the Federal Communications Commission. Its chair, Brendan Carr, began twisting the law to Democratic lawmakers have rightly Turning around and empowering the FTC to enforce censorship instead makes no sense. None of us — children or adults — are safer placing free speech in the hands of the FTC. Democrats need to stand up for the First Amendment. They need to defeat KOSA.
Newsweek
28-05-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Apple Hits Back At Texas Online Safety Law: 'Better Proposals'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Apple has criticized a Texas bill mandating age verification for app store users, insisting that "better proposals" exist to protect children online. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law on Tuesday, requiring Apple and Google to verify the ages of app store users and obtain parental consent for minors to download apps or make in-app purchases. Why It Matters Over 80 percent of Americans support parental consent for minors who want to create a social media account, according to a 2023 Pew Research poll, and more than 70 percent back age verification before use of social media. In June 2024, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, who had regularly cautioned that excessive social media use among adolescents was linked to a higher risk of anxiety, depression, and body image issues, urged Congress to mandate warning labels on such platforms, alerting users to the potential mental health risks associated with them. What To Know Apple and Google, which own the two largest app stores in the U.S, had opposed the bill before it was signed, arguing that the law would require widespread data collection, even from Texans downloading non-sensitive apps that concern the weather or sports scores. "If enacted, app marketplaces will be required to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it's an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores," Apple said in an official statement, according to Reuters. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, had argued that implementing age restrictions should occur at the app store level instead of in each app. The Apple logo is displayed on the glass facade of an Apple Store, partially obscured by green foliage in the foreground, on May 20, 2025 in Chongqing, China. The Apple logo is displayed on the glass facade of an Apple Store, partially obscured by green foliage in the foreground, on May 20, 2025 in Chongqing, China. Getty Images Apple and Alphabet, Google's parent company, have recommended alternative solutions, such as providing age-range data only to apps that pose risks, rather than to every app accessed by a user. Texas follows Utah, which passed a similar law earlier this year. At the federal level, the proposed Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) advanced in the U.S. Senate but has stalled in the House. Florida has also taken action against large tech companies over children accessing their sites, with the state suing Snapchat for failing to prevent kids under 13 from accessing harmful content. What People Are Saying Apple said in a statement: "If enacted, app marketplaces will be required to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it's an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores." In 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a U.S. Senate hearing that parents should not "have to upload an ID or proof they are a parent in every single app that their children use. The easier place to do this is in the app stores themselves." Casey Stefanski, Executive Director, Digital Childhood Alliance, said: "The problem is that self-regulation in the digital marketplace has failed, where app stores have just prioritized the profit over safety and rights of children and families." What Happens Next The Texas law will take effect on January 1, 2026. Another pending Texas bill would prohibit social media usage by anyone under 18, though it has not yet passed the state legislature.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas governor signs online safety law in blow to Apple and Google
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed an online child safety bill that requires Apple and Google to ensure that their app stores verify the age of users in the nation's second most populous state. Under the new law, minors will need parental approval before they can download apps or make in-app purchases. The bill was opposed by Google and Apple. "We believe there are better proposals that help keep kids safe without requiring millions of people to turn over their personal information," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC. Texas follows Utah, another conservative state, which adopted a similar law earlier this year. At the federal level, US lawmakers have spearheaded the Kids Online Safety Act, known as KOSA, which would require social media companies to make design choices that prevent and mitigate harms to young users. KOSA was passed by the US Senate last year but stalled in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the US Congress. The proposed bipartisan legislation, which Apple supports, was reintroduced in Congress earlier this month. In the absence of a federal law, the states have chosen to come up with their own legislation. Laws that call for age-verification has long pitted app store providers like Apple and Google against social media companies. Meta, which owns the social media network Facebook and photo sharing app Instagram, has lobbied for Apple and Google to be responsible for verifying the age of users. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple chief executive Tim Cook called Governor Abbott earlier this month in a bid to stop the passage of the state's bill. An Apple spokesperson said the tech giant shares "the goal of strengthening kids' online safety" but added it was "deeply concerned" by the threat it believes the law poses to the privacy of all users. "[I]t requires app marketplaces to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it's an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores," the company spokesperson said. In February, Apple announced a slew of new child safety measures, including a requirement that users select an age range on a new device. For users under 13, a parent or guardian must provide consent for a child to use the App Store and other features that require the use of its Face ID. The law is set to take effect on1 January. Texas has pressured Silicon Valley through legislation before. In 2021, the state made it illegal for social media platforms to ban users based on their "political viewpoints" after Republican politicians accused Facebook and the company then known as Twitter of censoring their opinions. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What to Know About the Kids Online Safety Act
A view of the U.S. Capitol during a rally held in support of the Kids Online Safety Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec.10, 2024. Credit - Jemal Countess—Getty Images Congress could potentially pass the first major legislation related to children's online safety since 1998, as the Kids Online Safety Act, sometimes referred to as KOSA, was reintroduced earlier this month after stalling last year. The bill has proven to be a major talking point, garnering bipartisan support and the attention of tech giants, but it has also sparked concern re: targeted censorship from First Amendment rights groups and others advocating for LGBTQ+ communities. Now, it will have another shot, and the bill's Congressional supporters will have a chance to state why they believe the legislation is needed in this ever-evolving digital age. The revival of the Kids Online Safety Act comes amid U.S. and global discussions over how to best protect children online. In late 2024, Australia approved a social media ban for under-16s. It's set to come into effect later this year. In March, Utah became the first state to pass legislation requiring app stores to verify a user's age. And Texas is currently moving forward with efforts regarding an expansive social media ban for minors. The Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA)—which would ban social media platforms from allowing children under 13 to create or maintain accounts—was also introduced earlier this year, but has seen little movement since. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, May 25, during a special mental health-focused episode, former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democrat who served Rhode Island, expressed a dire need for more protections surrounding children online. When asked about the Kids Online Safety Act, and if it's the type of legislation America needs, Kennedy said: 'Our country is falling down on its own responsibility as stewards to our children's future.' He went on to explain why he believes passing bills is just one factor of what needs to be addressed, citing online sports betting as another major concern. 'We can't just pass these bills. We've got to stop all of these intrusive addiction-for-profit companies from taking our kids hostage. That's what they're doing. This is a fight,' he said. 'And we are losing the fight because we're not out there fighting for our kids to protect them from these businesses [whose] whole profit motive is, 'How am I going to capture that consumer and lock them in as a consumer?'' Calling out giant social media platforms, in particular, Kennedy went on to say: 'We, as a country, have seen these companies and industries take advantage of the addiction-for-profit. Purdue, tobacco. Social media's the next big one. And unfortunately, it's going to have to be litigated. We have to go after the devastating impact that these companies are having on our kids.' Amid these ongoing discussions, here's what you need to know about the Kids Online Safety Act in light of its reintroduction. The Kids Online Safety Act aims to provide further protections for children online related to privacy and mental health concerns exacerbated by social media and excessive Internet use. The bill would create 'duty of care,' meaning that tech companies and platform giants would be required to take steps to prevent potentially harmful encounters, such as posts about eating disorders and instances of online bullying, from impacting minors. 'A covered platform shall exercise reasonable care in the creation and implementation of any design feature to prevent and mitigate the following harms to minors: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and suicidal behaviors... patterns of use that indicate or encourage addiction-like behaviors by minors…' the bill reads. Health organizations including The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, have pushed Congress to pass KOSA to better protect young people online—and see the bill as a potential way to intervene with the detrimental impact social media and Internet usage in general can have on one's mental health. Newer versions of the bill have narrowed regulations to apply to limiting 'design features' such as notifications, 'infinite scrolling or autoplay,' and in-game purchases. It would also allow for more parental tools to manage the privacy settings of a minor, and ideally enable a parent to limit the ability for adults to communicate with their children via online platforms. Read More: 6 Red Flags About the Mental-Health Content You're Being Bombarded With on Social Media In 2024, KOSA seemingly had all the right ingredients to pass into law. It had bipartisan support, passed the Senate, and could have been put in front of President Joe Biden, who had indicated he would sign the bill. 'There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis,' President Biden wrote in a statement on July 30, 2024, after KOSA passed the Senate. 'Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act.' Yet, the bill was stalled. House Speaker Mike Johnson cautioned Republicans against rushing to pass the bill. 'We've got to get it right,' Johnson said in December. 'Look, I'm a lifelong advocate of protection of children…and online safety is critically important…but we also have to make sure that we don't open the door for violations of free speech.' The bill received support across both aisles, and has now been endorsed by some of the 'big tech giants' it aims to regulate, including Elon Musk and X, Microsoft, and Apple. 'Apple is pleased to offer our support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Everyone has a part to play in keeping kids safe online, and we believe [this] legislation will have a meaningful impact on children's online safety,' Timothy Powderly, Apple's senior director of government affairs, said in a statement earlier in May after the bill was reintroduced. But other tech giants, including Facebook and Instagram's parent Meta, opposed the bill last year. Politico reported that 14 lobbyists employed directly by Meta, as well as outside firms, worked the issue. The bill was reintroduced on May 14 by Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who were joined by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. 'Senator Blackburn and I made a promise to parents and young people when we started fighting together for the Kids Online Safety Act—we will make this bill law. There's undeniable awareness of the destructive harms caused by Big Tech's exploitative, addictive algorithms, and inescapable momentum for reform,' said Blumenthal in a statement announcing the bill's reintroduction. 'I am grateful to Senators Thune and Schumer for their leadership and to our Senate colleagues for their overwhelming bipartisan support. KOSA is an idea whose time has come—in fact, it's urgently overdue—and even tech companies like X and Apple are realizing that the status quo is unsustainable. Read More: 'We're In a New World': American Teenagers on Mental Health and How to Cope Since KOSA's first introduction, it's been the site of controversy over free speech and censorship concerns. In 2024, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) discouraged the passage of KOSA at the Senate level, arguing that the bill violated First Amendment-protected speech. 'KOSA compounds nationwide attacks on young peoples' right to learn and access information, on and offline,' said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. 'As state legislatures and school boards across the country impose book bans and classroom censorship laws, the last thing students and parents need is another act of government censorship deciding which educational resources are appropriate for their families. The House must block this dangerous bill before it's too late.' Some LGBTQ+ rights groups also opposed KOSA in 2024—arguing that the broadly worded bill could empower state attorneys general to determine what kind of content harms kids. One of the bill's co-sponsors, Blackburn, has previously said that one of the top issues conservatives need to be aware of is 'protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture and that influence.' Calling out social media, Blackburn said 'this is where children are being indoctrinated.' Other organizations including Center for Democracy & Technology, New America's Open Technology Institute, and Fight for the Future joined the ACLU in writing a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2024, arguing that the bill would not—as intended—protect children, but instead threaten young people's privacy and lead to censorship. In response to these concerns, the newly-introduced version of the bill has been negotiated with 'several changes to further make clear that KOSA would not censor, limit, or remove any content from the internet, and it does not give the FTC [Federal Trade Commission] or state Attorneys General the power to bring lawsuits over content or speech,' Blumenthal's statement on the bill reads. Now, KOSA is back where it started—sitting in Congress waiting for support. With its new changes, lawmakers argue that they have heard the concerns of opposing advocates. KOSA still needs support and passage from Congress—and signing from President Donald Trump—in order to pass into law. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., has previously voiced strong support of the bill. 'We can protect free speech and our kids at the same time from Big Tech. It's time for House Republicans to pass the Kids Online Safety Act ASAP,' Trump Jr. said on X on Dec. 8, 2024. Contact us at letters@
NBC News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Former surgeon general says Congress has failed to protect children's mental health
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy accused Congress of failing 'in its responsibility to protect our kids' from the harms of social media and called on lawmakers to 'step up and act now' in an interview on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' that aired Sunday. Murthy, who served as surgeon general during the Obama and Biden administrations, said he would specifically like to see Congress pass legislation that would force social media apps to include warning labels about their harms to children and would allow for more data transparency from social media companies so that researchers can more accurately study the effects of the internet on kids. The former surgeon general compared social media to cars, pointing to the introduction of safety features like seat belts, air bags and crash testing decades ago. 'Those have reduced the number of deaths,' Murthy told 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker. 'We've got to do the same for social media, because what we're doing now, Kristen, is we're basically — it's the equivalent of putting our kids in cars with no seat belts, with no air bags, and having them drive on roads with no speed limits and no traffic lights. And that is just morally unacceptable.' Congress has tried in recent years to pass legislation to better regulate social media platforms and their interactions with children, with the Senate passing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) last year with strong bipartisan support. But both bills faced headwinds from civil liberties groups and social media companies. COPPA 2.0 faced criticism from advertising companies as it sought to update a 1998 law of the same name by raising the age at which companies are allowed to collect information about children from 12 to 17. It also included provisions that would place limits on how third-party companies can advertise to children under 17. KOSA, meanwhile, would create a 'duty of care' for social media companies, making them legally liable for feeding kids content that could be harmful to their mental health. Civil liberties groups warned that social media companies could overcompensate to reduce their legal liability, leading them to censor anything that could be deemed controversial. Neither bill received a vote on the House floor last year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reintroduced KOSA in the Senate earlier this month. Murthy, who is the author of the 2020 book 'Together: Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness,' linked the rise in social media use among children to the broader loneliness epidemic, warning that chronic loneliness can be detrimental to people's health. 'That's when it starts to increase inflammation in our body, increase our risk for heart disease, and other conditions that ultimately shorten our life,' the former surgeon general said. Online connections, Murthy added, are not the same as connecting and sharing friendships and relationships with people in person. 'I worry about, for young people in particular, is the impact that technology is having on their social connection,' the former surgeon general said. 'We tend to think, 'Oh, kids are on social media. That's great because they're connected to one another.' But no, we have to recognize there's a difference between the connections you have online and the connections you have in person.' Murphy warned that 'more kids are struggling with this intense culture of self-comparison online, which is shredding their self-esteem.' 'A lot of them are trying to be somebody that they're not online. And they actually don't have as many friendships in person as we all need. So you put this all together and what you see is escalating loneliness and isolation,' he added. Murthy also warned that kids are more at risk of experiencing the negative effects of social media simply because their brains are not fully developed. 'They are more susceptible to social comparison, to social suggestion, their impulse control is not as well developed. And that puts them more at risk of the negative effects of social media,' he said. Former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I., who is now a mental health advocate, also joined 'Meet the Press,' agreeing with Murthy's assertion that the government was not doing enough to help children on this front. 'Our country is falling down on its own responsibility as stewards to our children's future,' Kennedy told Welker. One proposal he offered was to create a 'prevention fund,' pointing to the lack of preventive care for mental health ailments. 'If we're really serious about making a difference, we need to simplify the system. We need to change the reimbursement model. And, by the way, if we want good results, we have to invest in a — what I call a 'prevention fund' of sorts,' Kennedy said. 'What I would like is all the payers, the state, the Feds, to put in dollars based upon the actuarial impact of these illnesses. … Why aren't we putting some of those dollars in a prevention fund where we can identify those people at highest risk and invest now?' he added.
