Most Battleground Voters Support Children’s Online Safety Laws: Poll

A majority of voters in House congressional districts said they support the government passing laws aimed at improving online safety for children and teens, according to a poll released Monday.

There was strong bipartisan support for passing online safety rules for children, with 88% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans saying they support the government passing laws to implement responsible safeguards to protect minors online, according to the research shared exclusively with The Colina.

The survey was commissioned by The Tech Oversight Project, a group pushing for technology regulation that is primarily funded by the Omidyar Network and conducted by Public Policy Polling between June 4 and 5.

Six hundred and two voters in 22 battleground districts identified by the Cook Political Report, as well as districts controlled by House Commerce Committee Chairman Cath McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and ranking member Frank Pallone (DN.J. ), were interviewed. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

The survey also asked voters specifically about the Kids’ Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would add regulations that aim to mitigate concerns about the use of certain tools and resources and their impact on children’s mental health. Seventy-eight percent of voters said they would support KOSA, including 83 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Republicans.

A slight majority, 56 percent, of voters surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for their member of Congress next time if they supported KOSA. This was seen more significantly among Democrats, at 62 percent, compared to Republicans, at 56 percent. Only 46% of independents said the same, based on the poll.

A Senate version of KOSA advanced in July and now has more than 60 co-sponsors, enough support to pass the Senate even with the filibuster rule in place. However, the project has not yet been put to a vote in the Senate plenary.

In the House, a version was introduced in April and approved by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, but has not yet been approved by the full committee panel.

Although the bill has broad bipartisan support, some advocacy groups and those supported by the technology industry have opposed KOSA based on concerns that it could limit information on topics such as sexuality and reproductive health, especially affecting LGBTQ teens, due to enforcement decisions left in the hands of state attorneys general.

Supporters of the legislation, however, said the bill’s language was updated to mitigate these risks and some LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, including GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, dropped their opposition based on the changes.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story