Bipartisan Smorgasbord of Children’s Online Safety Legislation Passes the House

2026-06-30 · Source: Tech Policy Press · Field: Legal & Regulatory — Regulatory Affairs & Government Relations, Compliance & Risk Management, Specialized Legal Practice Areas · Depth: Intermediate, medium

Summary

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act (H.R. 7757) on June 30, 2026, by a 267-117 vote, aiming to mitigate online harms to minors. This comprehensive bill, now heading to the Senate, integrates versions of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), alongside 12 other measures. Key provisions include not preempting more protective state laws and adopting a "know or should have known" standard for identifying minors. COPPA 2.0 updates the "child" age to 14, introduces a "teen" category (14-18), broadens "personal information" definitions, and grants deletion rights. The Act also mandates age verification for pornography sites via the SCREEN Act, prohibits market research on minors through the SPY Kids Act, and sets safety requirements for AI chatbots via the SAFE BOTs Act. Enforcement falls under the FTC and State Attorneys General.

Key takeaway

For Social Media Platform Executives navigating evolving online safety regulations, the House-passed KIDS Act signals a clear legislative direction for increased accountability. You should begin assessing your platforms for compliance with stricter age verification, data handling, and content moderation requirements, particularly concerning minors and teens. Prepare for potential federal mandates on default restrictive settings for user tools and parental controls, even as the bill faces Senate hurdles.

Key insights

The KIDS Act seeks to establish a comprehensive federal framework for online child safety and privacy, updating existing laws and introducing new platform responsibilities.

Principles

• Online services must adopt a "know or should have known" standard for identifying minor users.
• Platforms must implement reasonable policies and procedures to address specific harms to minors.
• Minors (under 17) and teens (14-18) require distinct privacy and safety protections.

Method

The Act establishes a single enforcement regime, with the FTC enforcing under "unfair or deceptive acts or practices" and State Attorneys General bringing civil actions.

In practice

• Platforms must default user tools and parental controls to restrictive settings for minors.
• Data brokers processing minors' data must register with the FTC.

Topics

• KIDS Act (H.R. 7757)
• Online Child Safety
• COPPA 2.0
• KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act)
• Data Broker Regulation
• AI Chatbot Safety

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Tech Policy Press.