Overview
- The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted to advance the Kids Online Safety Act on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2026, moving the bill back onto the Senate’s fast track for child‑safety legislation.
- KOSA would require platforms to make the most protective settings the default for users under 17, let minors opt out of personalized recommendations, provide parental controls, and create designated reporting channels for harm.
- Lawmakers at the same committee meeting also considered several companion bills, including the SCREEN Act to force stronger age checks on pornography sites, a parental‑consent proposal for chatbots, and measures on AI toys and chatbot privacy; the SCREEN Act drew privacy objections and failed to clear procedural hurdles.
- Civil‑liberties groups including the EFF and ACLU warned that broad age verification and a proposed ‘duty of care’ could endanger adult anonymity, create sensitive data stores, and raise First Amendment and vagueness challenges that are likely to prompt litigation.
- Before any law can take effect Congress must reconcile the Senate text with a different House version that dropped the duty‑of‑care language, and families, tech companies, and courts will shape how the rules are written, tested, and enforced.