The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan package of online child safety measures Monday, advancing a compromise bill that combines several previously separate proposals. But differences with Senate versions of some of the same measures leaves the future of federal regulation of children’s online safety unclear.
The legislation, known as the KIDS Act, passed by a 267-117 vote under a fast-track procedure requiring a two-thirds majority. The package reflects months of negotiations within the House Energy and Commerce Committee and represents a bipartisan agreement between Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) after an earlier version advanced along party lines.
Rather than advancing a single standalone proposal, House lawmakers assembled a legislative package incorporating multiple child online safety initiatives into a single compromise measure. The bill establishes baseline federal standards intended to protect minors online while preserving states’ ability to adopt stronger safeguards, a feature supporters describe as establishing a federal floor rather than a ceiling, according to Politico.
The legislation also includes provisions restricting minors’ use of disappearing messages, requiring AI chatbots to disclose that users are interacting with artificial intelligence rather than a human, and mandating age-verification technology for users seeking access to online pornography.
Despite broad bipartisan House support, the bill faces an uncertain path in the Senate because it differs significantly from a competing package backed by key senators from both parties.
The most notable difference involves the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), one of the principal components of congressional efforts to regulate children’s online experiences. The House version omits KOSA’s controversial “duty of care” requirement, which would require online platforms to design products with children’s safety as a primary consideration. That provision remains central to the Senate’s version of KOSA and has become one of the principal issues dividing the chambers.
The House compromise also omits language preempting state artificial intelligence laws, another significant departure from proposals favored by many Senate Republicans and technology companies. Per Politico, Senate negotiations are expected to revisit whether a final package should block or replace certain state AI regulations, making the legislation part of the broader debate over the relationship between federal technology standards and state regulation.
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Additional contentious issues expected to dominate Senate deliberations include online age verification requirements and First Amendment concerns surrounding restrictions on digital platforms.
The differences have prompted unusually sharp criticism from supporters of the Senate approach. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged House lawmakers to reject the package, arguing that the existence of two substantially different bills sharing the KOSA name could create confusion and benefit technology companies.
“We’re not going to let bad legislation with a good title just get across and think somebody’s done something,” Cantwell said, according to Politico. The Senate version of KOSA passed by a 91-3 vote in 2024 but has yet to advance during the current Congress.
The House measure has also drawn opposition from state attorneys general, highlighting continuing tensions over federal preemption in technology regulation.
New York Attorney General Letitia James joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 state attorneys general warning that the House legislation could limit states’ authority to enforce stronger protections for children online. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) cited those concerns in voting against the measure, saying the objections from state law enforcement officials weighed heavily in her decision.
Privacy advocates have likewise criticized provisions encouraging age verification, arguing they could require users to disclose additional personal information across a broad range of online services. The Center for Democracy and Technology warned that all internet users, including minors, deserve stronger privacy protections rather than expanded identity verification requirements.
Although House supporters described the legislation as an important first step after years of congressional deadlock on children’s online safety, the significant policy differences with the Senate, opposition from state attorneys general and continuing disagreements over federal preemption, AI regulation and platform liability leave the package’s prospects for final enactment this year far from certain, particularly as Congress approaches its August recess.
