1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

Congress has again put forward legislation aimed at controlling what content children see online, known as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). During the previous congressional term in 2024, the bill passed the Senate but then failed in the House due to Republican leadership fears that it may be used to silence certain political views. While the bill’s sponsors claim that changes were made to the text to address the widespread concerns that KOSA would censor internet content and instigate lawsuits, the language of the bill is still dangerously vague and open to interpretation by the government. KOSA requires online platforms to take steps to mitigate harm to children, but while lawmakers claim it would prevent kids from seeing inappropriate content online, KOSA would instead be weaponized by both the government and tech companies to police legal speech online. The law would be interpreted and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which the Trump administration has stacked with partisan commissioners. Trump’s FTC has already launched political investigations into media organizations who cover Trump unfavorably and has signaled interest in helping conservative advocates block content about abortion rights, gender-affirming care, and more conservative priorities. Tech companies in turn would simply move to comply in advance and censor content themselves to avoid FTC action.