Censoring the internet won’t protect kids

The Kids Online Safety Act, known as KOSA, would impose an unprecedented duty of care on internet platforms to mitigate certain harms associated with mental health, such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

Julian Zelizer : As currently written, the bill is far too vague, and many of its key provisions are completely undefined.

The bill effectively empowers the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) to regulate content.

Bill would create a Kids Online Safety Council to help the government decide what constitutes harm to minors and what platforms should have to do to address that harm.

Julian Zelizer : This bill does not merely regulate the internet; it threatens to silence important and diverse discussions that are essential to a free society.

Zelizer says KOSA contains too many flaws for any one amendment to fix the legislation entirely.

Opposition to KOSA is bipartisan, from advocates on the right to the left.

The ACLU brought more than 300 high school students to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to vote no.

Government mandates and censorship will not protect children online. Free minds and parental guidance are the best means to protect our children online.