The Senate has cleared the way for votes on two bills to increase children’s online safety and privacy, with a broad bipartisan vote on Thursday to end debate on the legislation.
The Senate voted by a rare 86-1 on Thursday to invoke cloture, or limit debate, on the Children’s Online Safety Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 2.0.
The vote signals final passage of the bipartisan bills likely next week and came after years of mounting pressure for Congress to put up guardrails to limit the impact of social media platforms on children and teens.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against invoking cloture. In a speech on Thursday, the senator called KOSA a “Pandora’s box for censorship” and argued that it “opens the door to almost unlimited content moderation, as people can and will argue that any content can contribute to some type of mental health disorder.”
But the broad bipartisan vote indicates that both bills are likely to pass the Senate. KOSA also had more than 60 co-sponsors before Thursday’s vote, which is enough votes to pass even with filibuster rules in place.
Supporters of the bill say it would help create guardrails to keep children and teens safe online and hold technology companies accountable for exposing children to addictive features and harmful content.
KOSA, led by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), creates a duty of care for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harm to minors, such as content that promotes self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and substance abuse.
COPPA 2.0, led by Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), would add data privacy measures, including a ban on advertising targeting teens and children online.
The likely approval in the Senate puts the spotlight on the Chamber to act when it returns from the early recess that began this week.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee was scheduled to schedule a House version of KOSA last month during a meeting, but the meeting was canceled shortly before it began due to GOP leaders’ resistance to a privacy bill from comprehensive and separate data, the American Privacy Rights Act.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
