Sen. Ossoff Working to Pass Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Children Online

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is championing a bipartisan bill to protect kids online.

Sen. Ossoff is working to bring Republicans and Democrats together to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), bipartisan legislation he co-sponsored that would impose new requirements on digital platforms to protect children from being targeted online with harmful content.

"This bill will restrict online spying and advertising targeting children and empower parents to take back control of their kids' sensitive and private data," Sen. Ossoff said. "That's why I'm working to bring Senators from both parties together to pass this bill."

The legislation establishes a "platform duty of care," requiring companies to "exercise reasonable care in the creation and implementation of any design feature" in order to prevent and mitigate harms to minors. The legislation also mandates safeguards, parental tools, reporting mechanisms, privacy protections, and enforcement tools to ensure compliance.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) passed in the Senate last Congress with Sen. Ossoff's support, and he's now working again to pass it through the 119th Congress.

Sen. Ossoff continues working to protect kids online.

This spring, Sens. Ossoff, Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) introduced the bipartisan Data Elimination and Limiting Extensive Tracking and Exchange (DELETE) Act, legislation that would enable and empower Americans to request that data brokers delete their personal data, including for children.

In May 2024, Sen. Ossoff's bipartisan REPORT Act with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) became law, which - for the first time - requires websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving Federal trafficking and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

In January 2024, Sens. Ossoff and Chuck Grassley (R-IA)'s bipartisan Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act of 2023 was signed into law to strengthen Federal protections against the sexual abuse of children, including online exploitation.

In a December 2023 U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray to address sextortion schemes targeting children online amidst a reported 700% increase in their frequency since 2021 in Georgia.

Click here to read the Kids Online Safety Act.

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