Reject KOSA: It Harms Privacy and Free Speech for Everyone

The Senate Commerce Committee needs to reject the Kids Online Safety Act. KOSA doesn't protect kids — it creates new privacy threats for everyone by pressuring platforms to implement age verification systems that require handing over government IDs, facial scans, or financial records just to access lawful speech online. Those systems build new databases that can be breached, misused, or seized by governments. The free speech problem is just as serious. By exposing platforms to liability for content linked to harms like anxiety or eating disorders, KOSA gives companies every incentive to shut down lawful forums entirely — including the very communities where young people find support and recovery resources. Elected attorneys general, not families, would effectively decide what teens can read online. That's not child safety. That's government-directed censorship. If Congress wants to protect minors online, the answer is comprehensive privacy legislation that covers everyone — not a bill that trades one harm for another. Reject KOSA.