This advancement represents a major step toward regulating technology companies. But some senators and advocates say that’s not enough.
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives easily approved a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting children online. This is an important step in a years-long effort to rein in social media companies’ interactions with children.
On Monday, June 29, the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS) passed by a landslide. The vote was 267-117.
Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called the bill “the most comprehensive and impactful online safety package for children ever considered by Congress.”
“At its core, this bill sends a simple message: children deserve a safer online experience,” he said. “Technology companies must be held accountable if they fail to protect young users.”
Congressional efforts to finalize the package could be one of the defining debates on Capitol Hill ahead of the midterm elections.
Although there is bipartisan momentum, it will not be plain sailing from here. The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where critical lawmakers say the measure is not as good as another bill that passed nearly unanimously in 2024.
Supporters of the House-passed bill said it would give parents powerful tools to monitor and control their children’s online experiences, establish safeguards against AI chatbots, and ban advertising aimed at minors. It also plans to limit unnecessary data collection on children and introduce age verification measures for sexually explicit content such as pornography.
However, it does not include the so-called “duty of care” provisions that were previously included in the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which passed the Senate. Supporters said the “duty of care” measure was supposed to regulate online design features to protect children from harmful elements on technology platforms. But some freedom groups warn that this could lead to censorship of free speech.
Still, some Senate Democrats, including Maria Cantwell of Washington state, have argued that that aspect of the package is “essential.”
“In short, this policy guts many of the critical provisions of the Senate bill that are needed to protect children and their families,” she said in a statement last week. “And this bill stops short of showing us what kind of strong safety measures we need for our children, instead being bundled together with another bill that inserts a lot of research at a time when the government needs to be doing more than researching this issue.”
Many House Democrats, including Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Jennifer McClellan of Virginia, and Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, acknowledged that the bill is not perfect. In their June 29 floor speeches, all cited criticism of the latest bill but said Congress needs to act sooner rather than later.
“This bill doesn’t solve all the problems,” Trahan said. “But it makes quite a dent.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has expressed support for the new KOSA bill, which is more stringent, and says he intends to move it forward. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) said it’s up to the Senate to reconcile competing bills on different lines.
“The ball will now be in their court,” she said.
Zachary Schermele is USA TODAY’s Congressional Correspondent. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
