These three senators voted against children’s online safety bills

The Senate overwhelmingly approved two bills aimed at bolstering children’s online safety on Tuesday, imposing new rules on what online companies can offer to minors and how they use children’s data.

Both bills, the Children’s Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 2.0, passed on a bipartisan 91-3 vote.

Here are the three senators who voted against the bills.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)

Wyden wanted the legislation passed by the Senate to go further.

While he said he “strongly” supported some elements of the privacy law, in particular, he argued that the other piece of legislation was “insufficient” and would lead to lawsuits against companies that protect users’ privacy.

“I fear this bill could be used to sue services that offer privacy-enhancing technologies, such as encryption or anonymity features, which are essential to young people’s ability to communicate securely and privately without being eavesdropped on by predators. online,” Wyden said in a statement.

Wyden also said he was concerned that a future administration could use the legislation to “pressure companies to censor gay, trans and reproductive health information.”

“For these reasons, I cannot vote for this legislation,” Wyden said.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah)

Conservative Lee said he could not vote for the Children’s Online Safety Act because it would fail to address the biggest online threats to children online, “while also opening the door to political censorship by the federal government.”

“KOSA ignores the serious harm done to children by online pornographers, both through viewing and exploitation,” Lee wrote in a post on X.

“Instead, this legislation empowers the [Federal Trade Commission (FTC)] censor any content that it deems to cause ‘harm,’ ‘anxiety,’ or ‘depression,’ in a way that could (and most likely would) be used to censor the expression of political, religious, and other views disfavored by the FTC.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.)

Paulo on a Tuesday opinion article for The Louisville Courier Journal said he could not support the bill because it would stifle free speech.

“KOSA would impose an unprecedented duty of care on internet platforms when designing their websites to mitigate and prevent harms associated with mental health, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders,” Paul wrote. “This requirement will not only stifle free speech, but also deprive Americans of the benefits of our technological advances.”

“Any solution to protect children online must ensure that the positive aspects of the Internet are preserved,” said Paul.

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