US House Subcommittee Advances 18 Child Online Safety Bills
On Thursday, the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a markup hearing to consider bills related to child online safety and privacy. The subcommittee advanced all 18 bills under consideration to the full committee, including the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (known as COPPA 2.0) and the latest version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), said the session was a response to an “online epidemic” facing children. While lawmakers in parties agreed on the need to address online harms, there was substantial disagreement, particularly from Democratic members, over preemption, enforcement, and the influence of Big Tech on the legislation.
For instance, in his opening remarks, the Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the subcommittee’s ranking member, said “these bills put a ceiling on kids’ privacy and safety by stopping states from doing more to protect kids.” He pointed to what he called “broad preemption language” in the bills that could “wipe out” existing data privacy and product liability laws.
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