In advance of the markup in the House Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee today, several civil society organizations have sent a letter to House Commerce Chairs and members of the Innovation, Communications, and Technology Subcommittee. The letter expresses concerns regarding the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), H.R. 7891, as it is currently drafted.
The undersigned organizations include CDT, ACLU, EFF, Fight for the Future, and OTI. They share the goal of keeping children safe online and acknowledge positive changes made to the legislation to address many concerns raised by civil society groups, LGBTQ communities, and grassroots advocates. However, they urge continued engagement and additional modifications to mitigate remaining issues that could lead to censorship of valuable speech and undermine privacy rights.
"We continue to have concerns that this bill will be misused to target marginalized communities and politically divisive information," states the letter. The organizations argue that these concerns have not been fully addressed in H.R. 7891 as introduced.
Even with amendments limiting its application to "high impact online companies," KOSA still mandates services relied upon by users to restrict recommendations of content based on government views about youth mental health harm. Consequently, companies aiming to minimize legal risks may avoid recommending content on young people's feeds related to sexual health and reproductive care, racial justice, LGBTQ+ issues, or other politically sensitive topics—content that can be critically important for many young people’s safety and security.
The full letter is available for review.
