The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)

Sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would establish protections for kids and teens’ health and well-being. The legislation:

• Requires that social media platforms provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt-out of algorithmic recommendations—and requires platforms to enable the strongest settings by default.

• Creating a duty for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harms to minors, such as content promoting of selfharm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation.

• Providing academic researchers and non-profit organizations with access to critical datasets from social media platforms to foster research regarding harms to the safety and well-being of minors.