Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On July 30, 2024, in a 91-3 vote, the U.S. Senate passed two bills aimed at protecting youth online: the Kids Online Safety Act (“KOSA”) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA 2.0”). KOSA would create new obligations for companies to mitigate potential harms to children (known as a “duty of care”), while COPPA 2.0 would extend existing children’s privacy protections to teens (under 17) and would ban interest-based advertising. KOSA, which was drafted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of (D-CT) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) with strong bipartisan support, has drawn opposition from a diverse group of critics outside of Congress and faces an uphill climb in the House. COPPA 2.0 is sponsored by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who was one of the sponsors of the original COPPA. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has not yet committed to bringing the legislation for a vote but has signaled a willingness to consider it.