Plugged In: Current Legislation Related to Online Safety
On March 1st, 2022, children’s online safety was included in the State of the Union address. There are currently four primary bills being considered in the US after nearly 25 years since the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998.
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)
KOSA would require commercial online platforms to “prevent and mitigate the risks of physical, emotional, developmental, or material harms” posed to minors using the platform.
Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act
The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (CTOPPA) expands upon the original COPPA legislation and would extend the protections of COPPA from children up to age 13 to children up to age 16. This has been put forth by Senator Ed Markey, who authored the original COPPA legislation.
Protecting the Information of our Vulnerable Children and Youth Act
Also called the Kids PRIVCY Act, this legislation is similar to CTOPPA, but extends COPPA protections to children up to age 17.
The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act
California is considering the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which would bring increased requirements for companies to verify age and consider childrens’ safety and privacy. This aligns with a movement in the United Kingdom toward requiring all pornography sites to include age verification that goes beyond self-confirmation, the current norm
Read more and read legislation text, here.