The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is ostensibly all about protecting our kids from online platforms, demanding that the platforms intentionally minimize harm to minors and has bipartisan support.
So at first blush, this seems like a good thing, right?
But KOSA has also been critiqued for its potential harm to LGBTQ kids and families, and its potential for violating First Amendment rights, so it’s not as clear cut as it seems.
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KOSA wants to protect children’s privacy and their wellbeing from social media and excessive Internet usage.
The bill creates a “duty of care” for online platforms to proactively prevent posts and comments that will harm children — think substance use, online bullying, suicidal behaviors and eating disorders as some of the areas the bill wants to address.
Who opposes the bill?
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) felt that KOSA violated the First Amendment in attacking young people’s ability to access information. Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at ACLU, said:
“As state legislatures and school boards across the country impose book bans and classroom censorship laws, the last thing students and parents need is another act of government censorship deciding which educational resources are appropriate for their families. The House must block this dangerous bill before it’s too late.”
Compellingly, all people in the U. S. — not just adults — have Constitutional rights, so making sure we honor our youth’s rights is just as important as protecting them.
LGBTQ+ groups have also expressed concerns about KOSA. Since the bill’s language is very broad, LGBTQ groups are concerned that state legislators could decide, fairly arbitrarily, that LGBTQ content also harms kids.
This concern doesn’t seem unfounded, as one of the bill’s very sponsors, Senator Marsha Blackburn, has said that children are being “indoctrinated” on social media from the “transgender in this culture” and need to be protected from it.
KOSA’s 2025 version has, in theory, been amended to reflect the concerns that civil rights and LGBTQ+ rights groups have brought.
But according to the National Law Review, the revisions don’t fully absolve concerns about Constitutional rights, and if KOSA is passed into law, the National Law Review fully expects legal challenges down the road.
Last year, when the bill was reintroduced, many teenagers overwhelmingly opposed it — with letters and calls to their Congress members and posts on social media to raise awareness.
Teenagers said that KOSA would definitely impede their ability to find online community, a resource that is valuable especially to children who have a minority identity and might not know many similar people in their geographical area.
Teenagers also feel that KOSA will infringe on their Constitutional rights, will hurt their opportunities and education, will hurt their self-discovery (a critical growth factor of adolescence), and will stop them from accessing true news and valuable information.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is on the kids’ side.
“If the FTC can sue a platform because minors saw a medical forum discussing anorexia, or posts about LGBTQ identity, or posts discussing how to help a friend who’s depressed, then that’s censorship. […] The legal incentives guarantee that platforms will silence even remotely controversial speech to stay safe.”
The Foundation points out that it’s the current administration who will be defining what youth (and to some extent, this will impact adults too) should be able to read online. Which definitely means that many minorities will find their identities and viewpoints censored.
“KOSA will not make kids safer. It will make the internet more dangerous for anyone who relies on it to learn, connect or speak freely.”
Local voices
Local parents have mixed feelings on censoring social media usage for our children.
“I think the way our government is approaching censorship means that children can be ‘protected’ from just recognizing some social groups exist,” says one Michigan parent, a veteran who asked to be identified as “A”.
“I think it should be up to parents to manage their child’s relationship with the Internet. And I don’t think the government should be making portions of that relationship illegal unless that speech is illegal for everyone.”
As a queer woman with three young children, I’m also erring on the side of concern for how this will affect LGBTQ+ youth and other minority identities.
With so many anti-LGBTQ laws being introduced around the country right now, it’s guaranteed that if KOSA passes, some states will definitely claim that exposure to LGBTQ identities will harm children and adolescents.
But we know that for LGBTQ children, having at least a few people in their community who embrace their identity can be literally life-saving — and for some youth, their only access to these communities is online.
We’ll be keeping tabs on this bill, and if it passes, we’ll update you all on next steps for your family.
