House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) will introduce a legislative package that combines a dozen bills aimed at protecting kids online ahead of a long-awaited markup Thursday, according to exclusive details shared by GOP committee aides.
The new package will include the latest version of the Kids Online Safety Act, as well as measures on gaming, chatbots and blocking kids from sexually explicit websites.
During the markup, the Energy and Commerce panel will also consider standalone bills on an array of topics including smartphone age verification, the collection of kids’ and teens’ data and alerts for parents if their kids are experiencing certain severe harms online.
The GOP aides described the package — which will be known as the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act — as the culmination of dozens of hours of bipartisan talks in recent months.
Nonetheless, the aides said talks between the two parties fell apart in recent days and they expect a largely partisan markup.
The standalone bills include fewer concessions to Democrats, though those measures have also changed from prior committee sessions. The markup won’t include key Democratic priorities on smartphones or data brokers.
KOSA. The KOSA proposal is the centerpiece of the panel’s efforts. It would require platforms like Instagram and TikTok to implement procedures to address harms, like violence arising from content.
House Democrats have pushed aggressively but unsuccessfully for the bipartisan Senate version of KOSA, which imposes a legal “duty of care” on the companies.
But the latest House iteration of KOSA does pull back some on pre-empting state laws, as Democrats had hoped, the aides said.
Phones. The markup will also include the App Store Accountability Act as one of the standalone measures. The proposed legislation would require users to verify their ages to create accounts on smartphones, potentially through a credit card or a government ID.
Democrats have said they believe the bill is unconstitutional, citing a federal district court’s decision to pause a similar law in Texas last year. That’s being appealed. A rival, bipartisan bill would give parents more tools to manage their kids’ smartphone usage.
Republican aides did make changes to ASAA — including making clear parents can enter their kids’ ages — that they believe would address some concerns.
