Lankford Celebrates Senate Passage of the Kids Online Safety Act

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) celebrated the Senate passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)—the first major reform to the tech industry since 1998.

KOSA will require platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings by default, force platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, provide parents and educators new controls to help protect children, and require independent audits and research into social media companies.

“Social media companies designed their platforms to addict vulnerable younger users and enable sexual exploitation, harassment, enticement, and drug sales with minimal accountability for the poison and illegal activities on their platforms. With more children on social media than ever before, moms and dads should have the tools to protect their children. The Kids Online Safety Act holds social media companies accountable and provides parents what they need to keep their kids safe online,” said Lankford.

“Today, the Senate took a major step forward in protecting children online by passing the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act,” said Blackburn. “This legislation provides young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against online harms. I want to thank Senator Blumenthal for his excellent partnership, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for helping us carry this across the finish line in the Senate. I also appreciate our House champions for pushing this legislation. The Senate passage of KOSA could not have been possible without the support of the over 240 organizations lined up behind this legislation and the hundreds of parents that have flown to Washington on their own dime to lobby Congress and push this legislation forward. The 91 Senators from across the political spectrum that stood up to Big Tech and voted in favor of this legislation have helped save countless innocent lives from being exploited online.”

“This moving and historic day marks a major win for our children. Anyone who doubted whether we’d reach this milestone has never met our advocates – the parents who have lost children and the young people who refused to be treated like Big Tech piggy banks,” said Blumenthal. “Through their shared grief, these families worked with grit and grace to be some of the most dedicated and devoted advocates my colleagues have ever seen. I am deeply grateful to Senators Schumer and McConnell for moving the Kids Online Safety Act through the Senate and to Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz for their leadership on the Commerce Committee. We are excited now to work with our champions in the House of Representatives. I am confident that the support of our large, diverse, determined coalition will get this bill across the finish line. It will be the first internet safety reform in nearly three decades – a resounding bipartisan achievement showing democracy still works.”

Lankford has sounded the alarm on big tech companies for allowing pornography on their platforms, which puts children at risk. He also introduced the Combating Cartels on Social Media Act, which has been approved by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to crack down on cartels recruiting teenagers through social media to conduct smuggling and trafficking. The bill comes after Lankford took social media giants to task on their products censoring some voices, including conservatives, using and selling user data, and using their products to help facilitate illegal border crossing at our southern border, particularly in the process of human trafficking. In a two-panel Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Lankford questioned executives from TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and more.

###