The Senate recently voted to invoke cloture on the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). In response, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a leading think tank for science and technology policy, issued a statement from Policy Analyst Alex Ambrose.
"Congress’s priority should be passing a comprehensive data privacy law that protects all Americans, including children, rather than wasting time on proposals that would do little to protect children, and in some cases, would make them worse off," Ambrose stated.
Ambrose highlighted specific concerns with both bills. "The problem with KOSA is that it requires online services to protect children from harmful content but leaves the decision of what content qualifies as harmful to the FTC, opening the door to censorship of politically charged issues including guns, abortion, sexuality, and more."
Regarding COPPA 2.0, Ambrose noted its potential economic impact. "The problem with COPPA 2.0 is that it would ban targeted ads for everyone under 17, cutting off revenue for ad-supported online services targeted at teenagers, and impose additional rules on online services serving this market. Online services may simply stop providing services for teenagers altogether."
Ambrose emphasized the importance of protecting children online but argued that these bills are not the right solution. "Everybody wants to protect children online, but these bills are not the right solution. Given that many members in the House have rightly questioned the bills’ potential for government overreach and censorship, the bills are unlikely to pass."
He concluded by suggesting an alternative approach: "Safeguarding children’s online privacy is an important goal, but KOSA and COPPA 2.0 will not help the United States achieve it. Instead, Congress should be focusing on crafting a workable federal data protection bill that preempts states and excludes a private right of action to put an end to the growing patchwork of state privacy laws."
For further information or inquiries:
Contact: Nicole Hinojosa
Email: [email protected]
