Oppose H.R. 7757 and KOSA - Blocks State Laws and Shields Big Tech

I am writing to urge you to oppose H.R. 7757, the KIDS Act bill package that includes the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). While this legislation is marketed as protecting children online, it would actually undermine genuine safety efforts by blocking state-level laws and shielding big tech companies from accountability. KOSA passed the Senate in 2024 but failed in the House because Republican leadership recognized it could be weaponized to silence political speech. Despite claims that the bill has been revised, its language remains dangerously vague and subject to government interpretation. The law would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, which the Trump administration has stacked with partisan commissioners who have already launched political investigations into media organizations and signaled interest in blocking content about abortion rights and gender-affirming care. Rather than holding tech companies accountable for genuine harms, KOSA would incentivize platforms to preemptively censor legal speech to avoid FTC action. This creates a system where corporations make censorship decisions based on political pressure rather than actual child safety concerns. The bill's broad requirements for platforms to mitigate harm to children provide no clear standards, leaving interpretation to whichever administration is in power. Most troublingly, H.R. 7757 would preempt state laws that actually hold tech companies accountable for their practices. States have been laboratories for meaningful consumer protection and privacy legislation. This federal bill would override those efforts while providing weaker protections that benefit large platforms. Using children as justification for censorship legislation is a well-worn tactic that should concern constituents across the political spectrum. I urge you to oppose H.R. 7757 and instead support legislation that genuinely protects children without creating tools for government censorship or shielding corporations from accountability.