Republican and Democratic Senate leaders applauded the recent reintroduction of an internet regulation bill. The legislation had previously faced opposition from a smorgasbord of LGBTQ, free speech, and conservative voices and it’s unclear whether their concerns are addressed in the new bill.
The Kids Online Safety Act passed the United States Senate last year in a 91-3 vote. It had support that ran the gamut from then-President Joe Biden to Tesla and X chief and Donald Trump megadonor Elon Musk. But the House of Representatives never voted on it, and it had to be reintroduced in the new 119th Congress.
It was reintroduced in the Senate on May 14 by its authors U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), with support from Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).
According to a bill summary authored by the Library of Congress, the legislation would require "applications or services that connect to the internet and are likely to be used by minors" to "act in the best interest of a minor using its application or service. This includes a duty to prevent and mitigate heightened risks of harms that may arise from using the platform."
By creating a duty of care, companies could be held liable for harms young people experience on social media. Groups such as Fight for the Future, which opposes KOSA, claim this is vague. After it was reintroduced, Fight for the Future’s Sarah Philips argued that the Federal Trade Commission, which would have enforcement power if KOSA is passed, “would weaponize his position against marginalized people.”
Blackburn said she was reintroducing the measure to protect children.
“Big Tech platforms have shown time and time again they will always prioritize their bottom line over the safety of our children, and I’ve heard too many heartbreaking stories to count from parents who have lost a child because these companies have refused to make their platforms safer by default,” Blackburn stated in a news release. “We would never allow our children to be exposed to pornography, sexual exploitation, drugs, alcohol, and traffickers in the physical space, but these platforms are allowing this every single day in the virtual space.”
As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, the legislation has been critiqued by both LGBTQ advocacy groups and civil libertarians for its potential infringement on free speech. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) – one of two Republican senators to vote no when KOSA was in the upper chamber last year – explained his reasoning in a letter to colleagues.
"While proponents of the bill claim that it is not designed to regulate content, imposing a 'duty of care' on online platforms to mitigate harms associated with mental health can only lead to one outcome: the stifling of First Amendment protected speech," Paul wrote. "The bill contains a number of vague provisions and undefined terms. The text does not explain what it means for a platform to 'prevent and mitigate' harm, nor does it define addiction-like behaviors.'"
Executive Order 14215, signed February 18 by President Trump, directs agencies such as the FTC to follow legal interpretations issued by the president or the attorney general, and to submit regulation proposals for White House review. Each agency is also to have a White House liaison, and the Office of Management and Budget is given oversight over agency dollars.
The order states that it is trying to improve the administration of the executive branch and rein in the power exercised by unelected officials. This is a key part of the unitary executive theory espoused in Project 2025, the conservative playbook authored prior to the 2024 presidential election that Trump and his allies have embraced.
“Previous administrations have allowed so-called ‘independent regulatory agencies’ to operate with minimal presidential supervision. These regulatory agencies currently exercise substantial executive authority without sufficient accountability to the president, and through him, to the American people,” the order states. “Moreover, these regulatory agencies have been permitted to promulgate significant regulations without review by the president.”
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has raised the prospect of action against social media companies which, in 2021, in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, restricted or banned Trump.
“No one has ever investigated what was happening in 2020, 2021, when all these platforms seemed to march in lockstep on an issue for which there isn’t objective inputs,” he said.
Fight for the Future’s Philips, a queer woman, told the B.A.R. back in December that, “The duty of care is the central issue” that “enables censorship and incentivizes social media companies to take down content.”
"We don't have consensus over what is harmful to children," Philips added. "Many conservatives in this country use that rhetoric to target and censor LGBTQ people, social justice, comprehensive sex education, ban books, et cetera."
Even then, Philips worried about the implications.
"A Trump FTC, for example, could be empowered to go after companies for posting abortion fundraisers or letting creators talk about gender-affirming health care," she said.
In a statement May 14, Philips stated, “We know the truth: rightwing actors want to stifle young people’s voices online. They’ve laid this strategy out in Project 2025. They’ve told us over and over again that they intend to strip speech so that marginalized communities can’t speak truth to power. They can say this is about accountability for Big Tech all they want, but with the likes of Elon Musk standing next to them, none of it rings true.
“Our communities are trying to survive repression and the gutting of important resources, and online spaces are a safe haven for LGBTQ youth when their resources in their schools and communities shrink,” Philips continued. “It is unbelievable that Senator Blumenthal and Senator Schumer can ignore everything going on around them for more political theater on a bill that would help silence any opposition to Trump. Senate Democrats need to wake up and look around. Any Democrat still sponsoring KOSA is co-signing fascism. Stop doing their dirty work.”
In December when he was asked about the matter, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said he had free speech concerns as well. Asked about the potential for its passage before the last congressional term ended this January, Johnson said, "There's still some concern about the free speech components of that, and whether it might lead to further censorship by the government of valid, you know, conservative voices, for example. So, we're working through all that."
The offices of Johnson, Blackburn, Blumenthal, Thune, and Schumer were silent when they were asked by the B.A.R. about whether the speaker’s concerns had been addressed.
Blumenthal stated that he is grateful to have the support of Thune and Schumer.
“I am grateful to Senators Thune and Schumer for their leadership and to our Senate colleagues for their overwhelming bipartisan support,” he stated. “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. Our coalition is bigger and stronger than ever before, and we are committed to seeing this measure protecting children on the internet signed into law.”
Timothy Powderly, the senior director of government affairs in the Americas for Apple, stated, “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.”
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist whose 2024 book “The Anxious Generation” delved into social media’s negative impacts on American youth, stated, “I'm pleased the Senate has re-introduced the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). There is indisputable harm happening to children at an industrial scale – reaching literally millions of children. KOSA would begin to address those harms. Parents say this is the No. 1 issue, above school violence, drugs, and bullying. Free speech protections are enshrined in explicit language in the bill. I look forward to lauding the efforts of all who see this bill through.”
LGBTQ Agenda is an online column that appears weekly. Got a tip on queer news? Contact John Ferrannini at [email protected]
