The Kids Online Safety Act continues to advance despite the problematic duty of care provision. “Duty of care” holds companies responsible for harms that minors may experience after encountering speech on their platforms, but this is overly broad and open to interpretation.[1] Depending on who’s interpreting, a kid getting information about birth control, abortion access, gender affirming care, LGBTQ resources, and even racial justice could harm them – putting those categories of content at great risk for censorship.[2]

It should not be controversial that kids deserve answers about sex, reproductive healthcare, abortion, LGBTQ resources, and gender affirming care – whether they get them online or offline. Yet, the duty of care provision in KOSA could incentivize platforms to censor life-saving information that conservatives want banned in their culture wars, not for kids’ safety.

There is a lot of pressure for Congress to do something about children’s online safety. We cannot let that pressure force support for a bill that kicks the door open for broad censorship and creates a vacuum of resources that could lead to unsafe sex practices or unsupervised, dangerous attempts by kids to affirm their gender. Kids’ mental health could suffer for lack of LGBTQ allies or other people who share their racial and ethnic identities in their offline communities.

This may satisfy conservative agendas, but it will not keep kids safe. Under KOSA as it is written, platforms could over-filter content to avoid running afoul of legislation and regulation motivated by pure moral panic.

Click here to send a letter to your representative, urging them to vote NO on KOSA as long as it includes the duty of care provision. We’ve provided a sample letter for you to sign, but voicing your opposition in your own words is more impactful.

Sources:

1. “How the Kids Online Safety Act puts us all at risk,” The Verge, Aug. 4, 2023.

2. “Congress's online child safety bill, explained,” Vox, May 30, 2024.