Elon Musk's X collaborates US Lawmakers Support Landmark Kids Online Safety Act CEO Linda Yaccarino said the move was to avoid infringing on free speech.
Strong signals of support from Mr. Yaccarino and Mr. Musk could provide a major boost to bipartisan online safety legislation. The bill passed the Senate on a 91-3 vote last July, but has since stalled in the House amid concerns among some Republicans that the bill could increase safety. censorship.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) imposes a legal “duty of care” on social media apps to ensure they protect children from sexual abuse, drug addiction, and dangerous stunts that can lead to injury or death. It turns out. The bill is widely seen as the most significant legislation to regulate Big Tech in decades.
“I am proud to share that, in collaboration with the authors of the bill, we have made progress to further protect free speech while keeping minors safe online,” Yaccarino wrote to X. Ta.
“We urge Congress and the House of Representatives to pass the Kids Online Safety Act this year,” she added.
Musk, who has emerged as a major donor and adviser to President-elect Trump, also indicated support for the bill in a reply to Yaccarino's post.
“Protecting children should always be our top priority.” Musk wrote.
Donald Trump Jr. gave another big show of support Sunday, writing, “We can protect free speech and our children from big tech companies at the same time.”
“The time has come for House Republicans to urgently pass the Kids Online Safety Act.” Trump Jr. said.
The approval came at a critical moment. Congress has only two weeks left before the end of this session to pass KOSA, but lawmakers have other pressing concerns in that limited time, including securing passage of funding for the U.S. government. .
The lead co-sponsors of the Senate version of KOSA, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), praised Mr. X for his consideration of the bill's language. .
“These changes should completely eliminate the false narrative that this bill will be used as a weapon by unelected officials to censor the American people,” the senators said in a joint statement. said.
“We thank Elon and Linda for their bold leadership and work to protect children online, and thank them for helping us get this bill across the finish line this Congress.” added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has not scheduled a floor vote on the bill. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) has also expressed skepticism about the bill.
As the Post reported in September, critics accused Google, Meta, and their Big Tech allies of funding what they called a “divide and conquer” plan to eliminate KOSA in the House of Representatives. I'm blaming.
Big Tech advocates are tailoring their messages about KOSA depending on which constituencies they are trying to influence. Telling House Republicans it could be a weapon against conservative speech, telling Democrats it was “anti-LGBTQ+” and could limit pro-choice speech. It is said that. A source said at the time.
Yaccarino previously supported X when he represented it. This was during a high-profile Senate hearing on children's online safety last January.
X and Snapchat significantly broke ranks with most of the tech industry in favor of KOSA.
