Cantwell Holds Off Hotline Request as Kids’ Privacy Talks Continue

Earlier this month Cantwell expressed interest in seeking unanimous consent for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) (S-1409) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S-1418) (see 2311090071). “We’re trying to force people to resolve any issues, and certainly by” initiating a hotline process, it “forces people to show their hand,” said Cantwell. “Hands got shown, and now we’re trying to work it out.” She said she will explore the potential for a hotline “again in a week.”

Cantwell is chair, so her plan is the “one that counts,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., lead Democratic sponsor for KOSA. “Whatever she has told you, I’m more than happy to go along. My goal is to get it passed. I don’t care how it happens.” Negotiation on bill language was ongoing prior to the potential hotline, he said: “We’ve been in talks continuously, and we’re continuing those talks, and we’ll continue those talks until a vote, and we’ll continue those talks after a vote because we still have to go to the House.”

All committee members are exploring how to move kids' privacy legislation as well as a comprehensive bill, Cantwell said. Yet she and House Commerce Committee members haven't had discussions lately on a comprehensive bill, she said. Last year, House Commerce moved without Senate buy-in and “that didn’t get us anywhere,” she said. “We really want to focus on it, so we’re willing to work with anybody.”

“We’re working with the Senate,” House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said Thursday, noting “constructive” conversations with Cantwell. The chances of House Commerce reintroducing privacy legislation before the end of the year are better than “50-50,” Rodgers said. “We’re still working on it.”

“It’s not a question of reintroducing” the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, said House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “What we’re trying to do is get” agreement on new language and “move the bill not only out of committee but on the floor and hopefully with the Senate. ... It’s a question of trying to get a consensus so that basically what is introduced can move. I want it to pass both houses and be signed by the president.” House Innovation Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., agreed, saying sponsors want to reintroduce a bill that has the potential to “go the distance.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is still seeking floor time for its kids’ privacy bills, Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us (see 2309270045): Those bills passed the committee “unanimously. I want all five of them on the floor.” Members are expected to probe Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Discord CEO Jason Citron during a Jan. 31 hearing on kids’ online safety (see 2311290072).

Last week Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., raised concerns about extremist, pro-Palestine content surfacing on TikTok and other platforms. Hawley noted he took to the floor prior to the Thanksgiving break seeking a vote on his legislation banning TikTok. “It’s not even pro-Palestinian people,” he said. “People can have their views. It’s virulently antisemitic, pro-genocidal [content]. People talking about killing Jews. It’s unbelievable.” TikTok’s response has been its “usual nonsense.”

“People need to be intellectually consistent, and I think that any videos portraying Hamas in any other light than the reality of what we know is wrong,” said Tillis. “And all the other garbage that people think is righteous because it supports their cause is wrong, too.”