We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) received a boost on Saturday reflected in posts on X, formerly Twitter, by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X.
The bill, sponsored by Blackburn and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Ct., had passed in the Senate last July by a vote of 91-3, but then stalled in the House based on censorship concerns. Blackburn wants to see the bill passed into law before the end of the year.
Yaccarino posted that “At X, protecting our children is our top priority. As I’ve always said, freedom of speech and safety can and must coexist. And as a mother, it’s personal. When X testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last January, we committed to working with Congress on child safety legislation. We’ve heard the pleas of parents and youth advocates who seek sensible guardrails across online platforms, and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) addresses that need. After working with the bill authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of speech while maintaining safety for minors online. Thank you to @MarshaBlackburn and @SenBlumenthal for your leadership, dedication and collaboration on this issue and landmark legislation. We urge Congress and the House to pass the Kids Online Safety Act this year.”
Senator Blackburn then posted on X, “Led by X, the new changes made to the Kids Online Safety Act strengthen the bill while safeguarding free speech online and ensuring it is not used to stifle expression. These changes should eliminate once and for all the false narrative that this bill would be weaponized by unelected bureaucrats to censor Americans. We thank Elon and Linda for their bold leadership and commitment to protecting children online and for helping us get this bill across the finish line this Congress. We appreciate that this endorsement and revised text reflects their publicly stated goal of furthering free speech without fear of censorship. We reiterate X’s call to pass KOSA by the end of the year — it is clear that this legislation has overwhelming support from Congress. @elonmusk @lindayaX @SenBlumenthal
In September, Blackburn released a video focusing on the “urgent need” to pass KOSA, a bill aimed at increasing children’s digital safety and privacy, according to The Hill. In the two-and-a-half-minute long video, titled “Why We Must Pass the Kids Online Safety Act,” Blackburn spoke with a woman from her state whose 17-year-old son took a pill laced with fentanyl that he potentially bought from Snapchat.