Today, the Senate Commerce Committee cleared a number of bills aimed at protecting children from online harms, including the amended Kids Online Safety Act.
With today’s markup, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) advanced bipartisan work to protect children from addictive and harmful practices perpetuated by large online platforms, while preserving beneficial access to high-quality journalism.
The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act was reintroduced this year by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) who were joined by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The amended bill would establish guidelines to protect children from harmful content on social media platforms while critically excluding news media content from the bill’s requirements. A previous version of the bill, first introduced in 2022, was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate last year in a bipartisan 91-3 vote.
The House of Representative passed a version of KOSA as part of the KIDS Act earlier this year, on June 29, 2026.
“We thank Chairman Cruz, Senator Cantwell, Senator Blackburn, and Senator Blumenthal for their tireless efforts to secure better protections for young people online and for their understanding that news media entities play a unique and vital role in educating, informing, and engaging audiences of all ages,” said Danielle Coffey, News/Media Alliance President & CEO. “The Kids Online Safety Act establishes important digital safeguards for young people while recognizing that preserving access to high-quality journalism for users of all ages is also a digital safety issue.”
