United States of America

Meta Seeks Immunity in Kids Online Safety Act

Is KOSA a long-overdue shield for kids against Big Tech or a government tool to censor free speech?

Published 2 hours ago

Meta Seeks Immunity in Kids Online Safety Act

Story

Above: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the U.S. Capitol on March 26. Image credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Big Tech has spent years hooking kids on addictive platforms while ignoring the subsequent mental health crisis, with teen depression doubling between 2010 and 2019, and nearly a third of girls considering suicide in 2021. KOSA finally forces platforms to face accountability by requiring tech giants to put kids first with real safety defaults, parental controls and a duty of care.

Center for Countering Digital Hate U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (.gov)

Establishment-critical narrative

If passed, KOSA would hand the FTC and the state a vague regulatory hammer that will inevitably pressure platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech far beyond actual harm. It would gut some of the core aspects of American democracy, while offering virtually no meaningful protection for children online.

FIRE American Civil Liberties Union