GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson from Louisiana discussed the Kids Online Safety Act during Tuesday’s weekly press conference. Johnson said he still has lingering doubts about a children’s online safety bill Elon Musk threw support behind this weekend.
“There’s still some concern about the free speech components of that and whether it might lead to further censorship by the government of valid, you know, conservative voices, for example. So, we’re working through all that,” said Johnson to reporters at his weekly press conference.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is the most comprehensive social media reform the Senate has pushed in decades.
It passed the upper chamber of Congress by 91 to 3 votes; however, it hit a snag in the House of Representatives, where leaders expressed concern about potential censorship and the power it gives the Federal Trade Commission.
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Musk-owned social media platform X, announced over the weekend that they have worked with the bill’s sponsors in the Senate to alleviate some of those issues.
“We’ve heard the pleas of parents and youth advocates who seek sensible guardrails across online platforms, and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) addresses that need. After working with the bill authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of speech while maintaining safety for minors online,” wrote Yaccarino on the platform this weekend. “We urge Congress and the House to pass the Kids Online Safety Act this year.”
Over the weekend, it precipitated a pressure campaign by allies of President-elect Donald Trump to push the House to take up the legislation. Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Donald Trump Jr. were among those who spoke up, as was Musk himself, who posted on X, “Protecting kids should always be priority #1.”
Speaker Johnson said he appreciates the efforts behind the legislation
On Tuesday, Johnson said he appreciated the efforts behind the legislation. Additionally, he suggested the effort could be renewed next year, with only two weeks remaining in the current congressional term.
“I’m grateful for the hard work that’s been done. I’m grateful for the support behind it. Certainly, I think all of us, 100% of us, support the principle behind it,” said the speaker.
“But you’ve got to get this one right when you’re dealing with the regulation of free speech. You can’t go too far and have it be overbroad, but you want to achieve those objectives. So, it’s essential that we get this issue right.”
“We are very optimistic that if it’s not done this year, that we can do that early next year with our Republican majorities, because it’s the Republican Party that has been working aggressively to protect children online,” said Johnson.
The legislation’s leaders, Senators Richard Blumenthal, Democrat from Connecticut, and Marsha Blackburn, Republican from Tennessee, thanked Yaccarino and Musk for their work over the weekend.
“These changes should eliminate once and for all the false narrative that this bill would be weaponized by unelected bureaucrats to censor Americans,” said Blumenthal and Blackburn. “We appreciate that this endorsement and revised text reflects their publicly stated goal of furthering free speech without fear of censorship. We reiterate X’s call to pass KOSA by the end of the year — it is clear that this legislation has overwhelming support from Congress.”
KOSA would require social media companies to mitigate and prevent harm to users younger than 17.
The legislation would additionally force platforms to block addictive components for minor users and make it easier for minors to protect their information, along with other measures.
