Online Safety Showdown
House Passes Kids Online Safety Package, Setting Up Senate Clash Over Duty of Care
Key Points
The White House is coordinating with Congress to push a package that would preempt some state AI laws as part of the kids online safety package.
The House-passed package cleared the floor with a 267-117 vote, indicating broad bipartisanship even as some lawmakers call the measure inadequate.
The KIDS Act would block private messaging for children under 13 and disappearing messaging features for teens under 17.
Public Knowledge endorses the KIDS Act version of KOSA and argues that nothing in the bill should be construed as imposing a duty of care.
Jewish Federations of North America frame online safety legislation in the context of antisemitism, citing a study showing 55% of Jewish Americans experienced antisemitism in the past year, with online antisemitism being the most common form.
The U.S. House passed a sweeping kids' online safety package on June 29, 2026, in a 267-117 bipartisan vote, sending the legislation into a direct clash with the Senate Guthrie Press Release. The bill, called the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, would block private messaging for children under 13 and ban disappearing messages for teens under 17 on platforms like Snapchat and Discord Washington Times.
But the Senate is not ready to sign off. Key senators say the House stripped out a core protection — a "duty of care" standard — that would force platforms to fix harmful design features like endless scrolling Senate Commerce Committee. A final deal remains uncertain.
House and Senate Fight Over "Duty of Care" Standard
The biggest fight is over a legal concept called "duty of care." The Senate's earlier version of the bill — passed 91-3 in July 2024 — required platforms to actively reduce harms like eating disorders and self-harm Wikipedia. The House bill drops that requirement entirely, targeting only specific design features instead of a platform's entire business model.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) held a press conference on June 26 warning the House version "guts" key protections Senate Commerce Committee. But advocacy group Public Knowledge backed the House approach, saying "nothing in the bill should be construed as imposing a duty of care" — arguing a broader standard could push platforms to censor legal speech Public Knowledge.
White House Trades Child Safety for AI Preemption
A hidden engine driving the bill is a White House push to block state AI laws. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and First Lady Melania Trump met with safety groups to build support for a "grand compromise": tech companies back child safety rules, and in return, federal law wipes out a patchwork of state AI regulations Axios.
The White House released its AI policy framework in March 2026, calling state AI laws a threat to U.S. dominance in the technology Akin Gump. Critics warn the deal is lopsided. R Street analysts called it a "bad deal," arguing that gutting state protections — including anti-discrimination rules in states like Colorado — is not worth the trade R Street.
What the Bill Actually Does for Kids Online
The KIDS Act bundles more than a dozen bills into one package. It requires default privacy settings for minors, new safeguards for AI interactions, and tighter parental controls wave3.com. For the 95% of American teens who own a smartphone — and the 45% who say they are online "almost constantly" — those changes would reshape daily digital life Washington Times.
Law enforcement groups praised the messaging restrictions. Sheriff Chad Chronister argued that disappearing messages are tools that "predators thrive in" and that blocking them is a key prevention step Sheriff Chronister Statement. But the Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that age-verification rules could end anonymous browsing for all users, not just minors EFF.
Antisemitism Data Shapes Advocacy Push for the Bill
Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut endorsed the package, connecting online safety directly to antisemitism. A 2025 ADL/JFNA study found that 55% of Jewish Americans experienced antisemitism in the past year, with 41% of all incidents happening online — the most common setting for such hate JNS.org.
The bill now heads to a conference process where House and Senate negotiators must agree on the duty of care language and the AI preemption provisions. If the Senate holds firm on duty of care, the entire package could stall before the end of this Congress Washington Times.
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