The US Senate Judiciary Committee advances the Kids Online Safety Act and COPPA 2.0; critics highlight issues, like forcing companies to collect more user data
The VergeMakena Kelly
Context & Ripple Effects
This markup follows the committee's earlier EARN IT Act advance on Section 230 exploitation protections, which drew parallel free-speech objections — the same panel applying the same template to kids' online safety. Advancing both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 together pairs a duty-of-care design mandate with an expansion of children's privacy rules.
The critics' core objection — that compliance forces companies to collect more user data to verify who is a minor — frames the tension that has defined every subsequent step of these bills' journey.
First-order effects
Platforms covered by KOSA now face codified duty-of-care design obligations, while COPPA 2.0 widens the set of users whose data triggers heightened handling rules.
The privacy critique lands immediately on the named players: verifying minors' ages requires collecting exactly the kind of personal data the bills claim to protect.
Second-order effects
Companies must pick between building age-assurance infrastructure that deepens data collection or walling off features from suspected minors — a trade-off that reshapes product design for any service with young users.
The Senate's later 91-to-3 passage of both bills shows the privacy objection did not slow momentum, forcing opponents to fight instead at the House stage, where the Energy and Commerce voice vote came only amid last-minute-change discontent.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, age verification becomes the default gatekeeping layer of the consumer internet rather than an exception — the logic the committee extended in 2026 by endorsing a bill requiring AI companies to verify ages and bar AI companions for minors (the AI child-safety endorsement), even as COPPA 2.0's second Senate pass still awaits a House that has repeatedly stalled.
Structurally, child-safety mandates are becoming the vehicle through which Congress rewrites platform accountability — first Section 230 via EARN IT, then feeds and design via KOSA, then AI products — with each bill normalizing more identity checks online.
The trend: Congress is converting child online safety from voluntary platform policy into mandatory age-verification and duty-of-care law, with the Senate Judiciary Committee's markup template expanding from social media to AI products.
The Kids Online Safety Act is advancing to the Senate floor. We must pass this critical, lifesaving legislation to protect kids and hold Big Tech accountable. .@SenBlumenthal [image]
As I sat in today's Commerce Committee markup it was clear that Congress is ready to take action to protect kids online. I am thrilled that my bill with @MarshaBlackburn, the Kids Online Safety Act, passed unanimously out of committee & is headed to the Senate floor. [image]
I am proud that my COPPA 2.0 legislation to reign in Big Tech and protect young people's privacy online just advanced unopposed through the Commerce Committee. We are one step closer to stopping Big Tech from tracking, targeting and traumatizing young people online.
At Senate Commerce markup of KOSA/COPPA 2.0. Cruz, the top Republican, says he'll support both after working out “significant and good improvements” to both but says more changes may be needed before floor vote, including adding state preemption to KOSA
As @SenateCommerce @commercedems begin to markup KOSA / COPPA 2.0 today, TPA urges opposition. Protecting internet users of all ages begins and ends with data privacy and security. We hope Senators will consider these concerns and oppose these bills. https://protectingtaxpayers.o…
NEW - @commercedems favorably reported out KOSA and COPPA 2.0 to increase kids online safety and privacy protections, on @POLITICOPro with @alfredwng https://subscriber.politicopro.com/ ...
KOSA & COPPA 2.0 risk the privacy & security of Americans & kids online. Instead, lawmakers should consider 4 meaningful, constitutional solutions that will empower law enforcement to stop child predators and equip Americans & their families to develop healthy digital habits. [im…
Today, the Senate Commerce Committee took a critical step to protect kids/teens online by advancing the KOSA and COPPA 2.0 out of committee, in a unanimous, bipartisan fashion. Now we look to @SenSchumer to bring this legislation for a full Senate vote. https://designitforus.org/…
As the Senate Commerce Committee votes on #KOSA & #COPPA 2.0 this morning, CDT calls for members to reject these bills that jeopardize all users' privacy & free expression rights, & enable state AGs to further censor legally-protected speech for & by marginalized voices.
With today's Senate markup in the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee about to start, check out my thread (with linked threads that include other threads!) on KOSA and COPPA 2.0: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/ ...
Fortunately, more and more people are realizing that #KOSA is basically a “Don't Say Gay” bill for the entire internet. Tens of thousands of people have already taken action today at https://badinternetbills.com/
We got this out later than we hoped to, but it's important. KOSA functionally requires age verification. That means face scans/govt ID. For Every. Social. Media. Site.
My colleague @sarahephilips and I are on our livestream now quickly explaining what happened during the #KOSA hearing today. Tune in: https://www.badinternetbills.com/ ...
WATCH NOW: The Senate Commerce Committee is about to mark up #KOSA, the “Kids Online Safety Act” You can watch the livestream AND take action at the same time here: https://www.badinternetbills.com/ ...
President Biden and Senate Dems are pushing KOSA, which the Heritage Foundation has boasted they will use to ban LGBTQ content online. This is a profoundly bad bill. [image]