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Two bills aimed at increasing safety of minors online through data privacy updates and rules to limit potentially harmful features are being put forward as amendments to be added to the FAA reauthorization that must pass ahead of a May 10 deadline.  

Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) filed their bill COPPA 2.0, which would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, as an amendment to the FAA bill Thursday.

“Today, Senator Cassidy and I filed COPPA 2.0 as an amendment to the FAA bill because we have waited far too long to protect children and teens’ privacy in this country,” Markey said in a statement.  

“We need to stop Big Tech’s invasive and pernicious business model that tracks and targets our young people online. Big Tech has contributed to the youth mental crisis, and it’s time Congress did something about it,” he added.  

The bill aims to increase data privacy for children online by adding regulations around how data from users aged 16 and under is collected and used by tech companies. It would also ban targeted ads for minors.  

Another bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), was put forward as an amendment to the FAA by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Blackburn confirmed.  

The spokesperson said the two senators are pursuing “all possible paths to see KOSA signed into law,” including by attaching it to the upcoming FAA reauthorization.  

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.