Tomorrow, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce will mark up the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), led by Subcommittee Chair Rep. Bilirakis (R-FL) and Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL), Erin Houchin (R-IN), Kim Schrier (D-WA), and Larry Bucshon (R-IN). Included below are relevant updates, message guidance, and polling for lawmakers and allies to utilize surrounding the hearing.
Recent Developments:
- Parents, health professionals, and advocates continued making their voices heard by calling on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to quickly markup KOSA as soon as possible. Tomorrow’s markup is a positive step forward in protecting children and putting the onus on social media platforms to develop safe products and algorithms.
- Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on the Senate. Politico reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised grieving parents that he would hold a vote for the filibuster-proof Senate version of the bill within the coming weeks.
- In April, the House version of KOSA was introduced – making the legislation bipartisan and bicameral.
Message Guidance:
As with any legislation that seeks to meaningfully stop Big Tech’s predatory business model from hurting children and teens, industry-backed misinformation is rampant. So let’s set the record straight about what the bill does:
- KOSA requires social media platforms to proactively design their platforms and algorithms with safety and well-being in mind— such as specific mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicidal behaviors, addiction, bullying, sexual exploitation, and the sale of illicit drugs to minors.
- KOSA gives minors tools to restrict the collection and public visibility of their private information.
- KOSA disables addictive product features like autoplay and infinite scroll.
- KOSA allows minors to opt out of manipulative algorithmic recommendations.
- KOSA enables the strongest safety settings by default.
- KOSA holds online platforms accountable through annual, independent auditing.
Bottom Line: The politics of KOSA couldn’t be more simple. The bill protects children and teens online, curbs Big Tech’s most harmful business practices, and puts the onus on companies like Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Snap to design safe platforms and algorithms. We ask every other industry in this country to design safe products. Why should we give a special carveout to Big Tech?
Relevant Polling:
TOP/PPP Tech CEO National Poll – April 2024
- Nearly 60% of Americans trust the federal government or state governments to make policy decisions that affect the tech industry.
- By contrast, only 5% of Americans trust big tech executives to make policy decisions that impact the industry.
- There was no statistical downside to messaging critically on Big Tech’s record or its CEOs.
- Both Democrats, Republicans, and Independents were more likely to disapprove of Big Tech after hearing negative messaging.
Commonsense Media/Lake Research/Echelon Insights National Poll – January 2024
- Teens, young adults, and voters think we are in a crisis now, and less than a majority believe things will get better.
- 78% of voters and 60% of teens think that politicians and elected officials are not doing well reflecting the needs, desires, and experiences of younger people in this country.
- 67% of voters say the federal government spends too little on investments that benefit children and youth.
Issue One-Fairplay/Hart Research – November 2023
- 87% of the electorate believes that it is important for the president and Congress to take action to combat the harms being caused by social media platforms.
- This includes 86% of respondents who voted for former President Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and 88% of voters who supported then-candidate Joe Biden.
- Nearly all voters (94%) agree that mental health challenges facing children and teens today are a serious problem, and three in four (73%) blame social media and say the platforms have had a negative impact on the mental health of youth over the last 20 years.
- Further demonstrating the overwhelming public support for congressional action, 86% of voters support the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would require social media platforms to protect minors from specific online harms, such as the promotion of eating disorders, suicide, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation.
- More than 90% of all respondents also expressed concern about a wide range of negative impacts social media is having on children and teens, from being vulnerable to online predators to rates of cyberbullying, anxiety, depression, and suicide.
Reset/Hart Strategies National Poll – May 2023
- Social media companies are unpopular, and social media is seen as harmful to children and teens.
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- More voters have negative than positive views of social media companies: 21% favorable, 50% unfavorable, and 29% neutral/no opinion.
- Parents also hold more negative than positive views of them: 25% favorable, 41% unfavorable, and 33% neutral/no opinion.
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- Voters and parents think social media’s harms outweigh its benefits for society overall, particularly for children and teens.
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- Voters feel that the harms of social media outweigh benefits for our society overall by 35% to 16%.
- Parents also feel that the harms outweigh the benefits by 37% to 17%.
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- Large majorities of voters and parents want President Biden and Congress to place a priority on addressing the impact of social media on young people.
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- Two in three voters (67%) and nearly three in four parents (73%) feel it is important for President Biden and Congress to take action to address the impact of social media on young people.
- Large majorities of Democrats (69%), independents (62%), and Republicans (67%) think it is important.
LINK HERE (NOTE: This survey oversamples voters in five states: Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania)
Tools and Resources:
- KOSA One-Pager (Bilirakis-Castor)
- KOSA Fact Sheet (Commonsense Media)
- KOSA Fact Sheet Addressing Harms (Fairplay and PSOS)
- Social Media Health Advisory (American Psychological Association)
- Prevalence of Design Harms on Youth (LogOff and Accountable Tech)