What is KOSA?
KOSA stands for Kids Online Safety Act. Created by US Senator Richard Blumentha, its purpose is to give parents the ability to take control of their child’s exposure to the online world and to protect their well being. The bill was created in late 2022, but the bill failed to pass. Now it is being brought back up in 2023.
Positives and Negatives of the KOSA Bill
Positives: The Kids Online Safety Act has many positives, for one KOSA would keep kids from seeing content that romanticized disorders, inappropriate content, and more such as substance abuse. The act requires many companies to make the use of their platforms safer. According to America First Policy Institute, “This bill would create accountability, promote transparency, and advance the development of tools to protect children online.” Meaning it is supposed to make people more accountable, and become an advancement to society’s tools to protect children. With poor mental health rates going up, it is important to keep them shielded from things like getting exposed to exploitation, leading to bad mental health risks.
Negatives: KOSA is a bill that is supposed to keep children safe, and although there are many pros, there are also several cons. Some of these cons may include the political point of view going into this. According to CyberScoop “The other primary concern with KOSA is that it could be politicized by state attorneys general, who the bill gives power to enforce the duty of care, leading to the takedown of LGBTQ+ and reproductive health content in states where that information is already being censored in schools and in other ways.” Which means that some of that might be taking away knowledge of things like the LGBTQ+ community and much more. Some are concerned about the bill censoring their rights, safety, and the troubles of having access to content online.
Conclusion
Although there are both pros and cons of KOSA, the situation between the act and social media seems to be leading towards the cons. As it is true that social media can have negative impacts, the KOSA Bill is reaching to better the mental health of children and teens. This might not be the case for everyone though as it can do more than just that and that’s why it is important to know this. Throughout the pros and cons, the choice to support it is mainly based on the person.
Cites
https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/kids_online_safety_act_-_one_pager.pdf
https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2023/5/blackburn-blumenthal-introduce-bipartisan-kids-online-safety-act
https://ctmirror.org/2023/07/27/kids-online-safety-act-kosa-pass-2023/
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.malwarebytes.com%2Fblog%2Fnews%2F2022%2F02%2Fus-senators-introduce-the-kids-online-safety-act-kosa&psig=AOvVaw3S66nLDJpF3g5FAS1BkRNO&ust=1692925204187000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CA0QjRxqFwoTCLDH54iM9IADFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/8/22/23835164/kids-online-safety-act-protect-children-dangers-internet-social-media-congress-jeffery-leving-op-ed#:~:text=Supporters%20say%20the%20bill%20would,17%20to%20use%20their%20platforms.
https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/r-street-institute-concerns-about-the-kids-online-safety-act/#:~:text=KOSA%20violates%20the%20First%20Amendment,violate%20their%20First%20Amendment%20rights.
https://cyberscoop.com/kids-online-safety-act-senate-privacy/#:~:text=The%20other%20primary%20concern%20with,schools%20and%20in%20other%20ways.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online
https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2023/kids-online-safety-act-senate-letter#:~:text=If%20passed%2C%20the%20Kids%20Online,%2C%20sexual%20trafficking%2C%20and%20narcotics.
