FIRST IN MT: CAMPAIGN AGAINST KIDS’ ONLINE SAFETY BILLS LAUNCHES
POLITICO MORNING TECH
A campaign aiming to raise awareness of potential unintended consequences from pending kids’ online safety legislation kicked off this morning. Dubbed the Keep Kids Safe and Connected campaign, it’s a project of the Software and Information Industry Association, a tech industry group whose members include Meta, Amazon and Google.
The campaign’s website, shared first with MT, boasts a lengthy list of tech industry groups, civil society groups and other organizations who align with KKSAC’s mission — including TechNet, NetChoice, Fight for the Future, the R Street Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union. SIIA president Christopher Mohr said in a statement the campaign aims to raise the voices of those who have spoken out against legislative proposals, including the Kids Online Safety Act.
The campaign’s concerns with bills like KOSA include privacy, LBGTQ+ rights and mental health. A prominent pillar raising concerns over proposals containing age verification requirements argues that mandating online platforms to collect personally identifiable information puts users’ sensitive data at greater risk. The campaign is also working to develop “alternative and workable ways to meaningfully address concerns around kids' online privacy and safety.”
— The debate: KOSA would require social media companies to design products with kids’ safety in mind and mandate annual third-party safety audits. But opponents, which include the tech industry, civil society and LGBTQ+ rights groups, argue the bill harms the privacy of vulnerable communities, such as LGBTQ+ users. The bill advanced unanimously out of the Senate Commerce Committee in July and is awaiting a floor vote, but there’s no indication of when or if that’ll happen.
The campaign’s website states that although it “supports measures that would meaningfully improve online privacy and safety,” the groups argue that a slew of pending legislation would put kids and adults’ data at risk, cut off younger generations from information and limit freedom of expression. Besides KOSA, the campaign specifically takes issue with the STOP CSAM Act, Children and Teens’ Online Privacy and Protection Act, EARN IT Act and Protecting Kids on Social Media Act.