The Senate on Tuesday passed a pair of landmark bills aimed at protecting children online in widely bipartisan fashion, putting pressure on the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to take up the legislation.

What You Need To Know

  • In a 91-3 vote, the Senate passed a pair of landmark bills aimed at protecting children online in widely bipartisan fashion

  • The measure now heads to the GOP-controlled House, which is on a six-week recess

  • House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement last week that he is reviewing the legislation and is “committed to working to find consensus in the House,” but did not say he would put the bill up for a vote

In a 91-3 vote, the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children Online Privacy Protection Act, the most sweeping legislation in decades to try and defend kids from dangerous content on the internet and hold tech companies accountable for harm. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who shepherded the bills through the upper chamber, called their passage a "good first step," but emphasized that lawmakers have more to do, specifically mentioning artificial intelligence and privacy.

"These bills don't solve all of the problems online, but this is certainly a large step in the right direction to protecting children and teens online," Schumer said, before praising parents and families who "fought for change" and advocated for the bills.

"I say that not only as a leader and as a senator, but as a dad and a grandpa who always worries about what will happen with my little grandchildren when they get a little older," Schumer, with a note of emotion in his voice, added. "I promised them that we'd get this done. I promised them I'd bring it to the floor, and today I kept my promise, but most importantly, we are one step closer to making our teens and our children across the U.S. safer online."

The Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, authored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would mandate that social media companies mitigate harm to children, including bullying and violence, the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and advertisements for illegal products such as narcotics, tobacco or alcohol.

To do that, social media platforms would have to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations. They would also be required to limit other users from communicating with children and limit features that “increase, sustain, or extend the use” of the platform — such as autoplay for videos or platform rewards.

Blumenthal said that the bill will allow "young people to take back control over their online lives."

"They will be able to disconnect from the addictive features and opt out of those black box algorithms that drive at them relentlessly, the eating disorders, bullying, fentanyl, sexual exploitation, self-harm and, all too often, suicide and bullying," he said. "We are on the cusp of a new era."

Critics of the bill have said it may violate the First Amendment, and have expressed concerns that it could harm kids who wouldn’t be able to access information on LGBTQ+ issues or reproductive rights — although the bill has been revised to address many of those criticisms, and major LGBTQ+ groups have decided to support the proposed legislation.

The Children Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA 2.0, written by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., updates child privacy laws that prohibit online companies from collecting personal information from users under 13, raising that age to 17. It would also ban targeted advertising to teenagers and allow teens or guardians to delete a minor’s personal information.

Markey, who sponsored the original COPPA, compared the online environment to experiences he had as a boy when salesmen came to his door and he told them through the mail slot that his parents aren't home.

"Those salesmen online have gotten around that front door and are into the lives of teenagers and children in our country, and what COPPA 2.0 does is it just says no," Markey said. "No to gathering the information, no to targeting the kids and no to gathering the information in the first place, because that data is the oxygen for these social media companies to be able to target these kids, and it must end."

Just three lawmakers voted against the bill: Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

Wyden, in a statement, said that while he "strongly" supports parts of the bill and praised the changes to the bill, he said he could not vote for it, calling changes to the measure "constructive" but "insufficient."

"I fear this bill could be used to sue services that offer privacy-enhancing technologies like encryption or anonymity features that are essential to young people’s ability to communicate securely and privately without being spied on by predators online," Wyden said. "I also take seriously concerns voiced by the American Civil Liberties Union, Fight for the Future, and LGBTQ+ teens and advocates that a future MAGA administration could still use this bill to pressure companies to censor gay, trans and reproductive health information."

The measure now heads to the GOP-controlled House, which is on a six-week recess. But the overwhelmingly bipartisan vote could persuade House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to put the bill on the floor and send the measure to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Johnson said in a statement last week that he is reviewing the legislation and is “committed to working to find consensus in the House,” but did not say he would put the bill up for a vote.

“Parents should have greater control and the necessary tools to protect their kids online,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I am looking forward to reviewing the details of the legislation that comes out of the Senate.”

Biden hailed the passage of the legislation and urged the House to send it to his desk quickly.

"Today, the Senate took a crucial bipartisan step forward to make our kids safer online," Biden said in a statement. "There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis. Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act."

"The last time Congress took meaningful action to protect children and teenagers online was in 1998 – before the ubiquity of social media and smartphones," the president continued. "Our kids have been waiting too long for the safety and privacy protections they deserve and which this bill would provide. This is more important than ever with the growing use of AI ... I encourage the House to send this bill to my desk for signature without delay."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.