KOSA Remains on Shaky Ground With 119th Congress

NetChoice Director-State and Federal Affairs Amy Bos said kids' online safety will be a big issue for lawmakers this year, but a reintroduced KOSA would run into the same roadblocks it previously faced from House leadership and Freedom Caucus members, who were concerned it would violate youths' privacy and spur overmoderation of online content.

Public Knowledge Director-Government Affairs Sara Collins said Congress will continue leaning on blanket bans. She pointed to the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would ban minors younger than 13 from accessing social media platforms. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced the measure this week.

Also, Collins said the Salt Typhoon cyber incident [see 2501220063) demonstrates why Congress should make sure the FCC is empowered to set cyber and hardware requirements for telecommunications providers. That empowerment would be easier if ISPs were considered Title II carriers, she added. Absent Title II authority, lawmakers must ensure the FCC can play its role in some other way, she said.

Foundation for American Innovation Senior Fellow Evan Swarztrauber said that given ISPs use mixed-use networks, the FCC has some Title II authority. He said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr would likely act on cybersecurity issues, judging by his statements on the topic.

Panelists were divided on tech companies moderating content on their social media platforms. Collins was disappointed by Meta's rollback on its moderation policies. She added that extremists have wrongly succeeded in framing the issue as, "'If I can't be the most vile version of myself on any platform I choose, my free expression rights are being violated.'" A policy goal should be a vibrant internet that lets users choose the online community and moderation policies they want, she said.

Bos said the Meta decision was welcome news among Republicans, and there are constitutional issues raised when the government urges social media platforms to remove content. There should be bipartisan support for barring such government activity, she argued. Swarztrauber said moderation concerns from conservatives were never about defending racist or sexist online abuse but about protecting political speech.

The emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek means the U.S. should double its efforts to prevent U.S. tech being stolen or its terms of use being violated, Swarztrauber said. He said Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security needs to be adequately resourced to properly enforce export controls. The U.S. response to DeepSeek shouldn't be a radical change of national AI strategy, but it should increase the emphasis on R&D and infrastructure needs.

Collins cautioned that DeepSeek concerns shouldn't lead to an overly protectionist response that could stifle growth. "What we don't want to see is, in the name of competing against China, we entrench OpenAI, Google and maybe one other as our AI providers for life." She said Congress should focus on crafting incentives for and enforcement of an AI ecosystem that protects consumers while also respecting business. Constantly responding to China "is not the way you build a new ecosystem that could be truly economically revolutionary."

A national privacy law seems unlikely, Swarztrauber said, though Bos was "a little hopeful," given that Cruz and incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., are interested in one. She said numerous states are trying to fill the void, which could drive Congress to act. Collins said she was "deeply concerned" that Cruz and Guthrie were looking at Texas and Kentucky privacy laws as a model since both are weak. Maryland or Connecticut would be a better guide, she added.