Kids Online Safety Act shelved by US House of Representatives
The Kids Online Safety Act has reportedly been defeated. (Getty)
The controversial Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has reportedly been killed by the US House of Representatives.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was reportedly axed in a vote on Thursday (1 August), with House members arguing it violated free speech protections for social media platforms. The bill, which was endorsed by, among others, president Joe Biden, sought to implement protections for children online, including limiting harmful advertisements for the likes of tobacco and gambling.
But KOSA was criticised by activists who claimed it could be used to censor content that the Department of Education deemed harmful, and that political overreach could result in LGBTQ+ people being silenced.
Activist and musician Evan Greer said KOSA was “poorly written” and would have “made kids less safe”, adding: “It’s good that this unconstitutional censorship bill is dead for now, but I am not breathing a sigh of relief.
“KOSA was always too controversial to succeed. We need strong privacy, anti-trust and algorithmic justice legislation that address the harms of big tech without endangering free expression and human rights.”
The US senate approved the bill earlier in the week in a vote of 91-3, but it has now effectively been shelved by the lower chamber of congress.
The bill’s lead sponsor, senator Marsha Blackburn, who has said LGBTQ+ people were indoctrinating youngsters, admitted hoping the proposed law would protect “minor children from the transgender in our culture”.
The risk of censorship was so severe, however, that 90+ LGBTQ+ organisations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), expressed concern over the bill.
“At a time when books with LGBTQ+ themes are being banned from school libraries, and people providing healthcare to trans children are being falsely accused of ‘grooming’, KOSA would cut off another vital avenue of access to information for vulnerable youth,” an ACLU spokesperson said.
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