Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and 32 other attorneys general are urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to address youth mental health risks from social media, enhance online safety for minors, and empower parents with protective tools.
Per the news release: “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has joined a coalition of 32 attorneys general calling upon Congressional leadership to pass the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) before the end of the year to protect children from online harm. In a letter, the coalition emphasized the urgent need to address the growing crisis of youth mental health linked to social media use, citing studies that show minors spend more than five hours daily online. The letter urges Congress to maintain the provision in KOSA guaranteeing that it would not preempt state laws providing stronger protections, thereby establishing baseline protections for all American youth while allowing Maryland to enforce strong safeguards.
“Protecting children from the dangers of social media overload must be easier for parents and guardians to access, understand, and use,” said Attorney General Brown. “The risk of children becoming addicted to their phones or tablets is very real, and it’s crucial that we provide caregivers with the tools they need to effectively protect their children.”
The attorneys general highlighted several key provisions of KOSA designed to enhance online protections for minors:
- Mandatory default safety settings: Requiring platforms to automatically enable their strongest safety protections for minors, rather than burying these features behind opt-in screens.
- Addiction prevention: Allowing young users and their parents to disable manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations that keep children endlessly scrolling.
- Parental empowerment: Providing parents with new tools to identify harmful behaviors and improved capabilities to report dangerous content.
This push for federal legislation comes as many state attorneys general offices have launched investigations and lawsuits against major social media platforms for their targeting of underage users. In October 2023, Attorney General Brown filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) through its collection and use of children’s data on its platforms.
In sending the letter, Attorney General Brown joins the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District”