Don Jr. and Elon Musk Push for Passage of the ‘Kids Online Safety Act’
Donald Trump, Jr. and Elon Musk joined forces over the weekend to urge Congress to pass the “Kids Online Safety Act” (KOSA). The bill would make changes to the way that tech companies use tracking cookies and algorithms to push addictive products and behaviors in front of children. Both Trump and Musk insist that freedom of speech and protecting children from harmful stuff on the internet can coexist.
X.com, formerly Twitter, had previously been opposed to the KOSA legislation. Now that the bill has been amended, the company is fully on board with the changes. X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the company is committed to working with Congress on child safety legislation. Musk agreed, noting that protecting children should always be the #1 priority.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has been leading the charge trying to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. She sponsored the bill with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Blackburn successfully pushed the bill to a floor vote in the Senate, where it passed by an overwhelming vote of 91-3. Blackburn is also calling on the House to pass the bill.
Unfortunately for parents, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) have both taken campaign donations from Big Tech companies. They’re both opposed to the legislation as it stands right now.
Sen. Blackburn notes that in addition to disabling tracking cookies and pushing addictive products to kids, the bill also requires tech companies to open their “black boxes” for public scrutiny. Those are the proprietary algorithms that are used to encourage addictive internet behaviors.
What do you think? Will the Kids Online Safety Act actually make it safer for children and teens to surf the web? Or will this just be a band-aid on a much larger problem?