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Nearly 100 groups focused on digital or kids safety are calling on House leaders to reject the latest version of a kids onine safety package, dubbed the KIDS Act, which could hit the House floor as early as next Monday under a fast-tracked process.
The groups, in the letter sent Friday, said they are concerned the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, which includes the landmark Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), weakens proposed protections for online users and “lets Big Tech off the hook.”
Signatories include the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), the youth-led coalition Design It for Us, the tech watchdog group Tech Oversight Project and artificial intelligence safety advocacy group Encode.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) announced Monday the two came to an agreement on the KIDS Act, months after negotiations fell apart.
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The lawmakers said they “worked across the aisle for many months” and found “common ground on policies to significantly improve the digital environment for kids.”
According to next week’s House schedule, the KIDS Act could be brought to the House floor as early as Monday under a special, fast-track process called suspension of the rules. The provision requires two-thirds majority support for bills to pass.
Among the safety groups’ concerns is the House’s removal of the duty of care, which would have legally required platforms to “exercise reasonable care” to prevent harms to minors. Harms include eating disorders, suicide, substance use disorders, and sexual exploitation.
Senate KOSA co-authors Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said the removal of the duty of care is a nonstarter if it reaches the upper chamber.
“Stripping the duty of care does not lighten a regulatory burden; it removes the most important obligation requiring these products to be designed safely in the first place,” the groups wrote.
They argued the bill’s substitution is “ineffectual and abandons the harms that matter most.” Instead, it requires platforms maintain “reasonable policies, practices and procedures” for the harms, which the groups said can be satisfied without changing any design choices.
Dani Pinter, NCOSE’s chief legal officer and director of the Law Center, told The Hill in an interview Friday that the duty of care is the “heart and soul” of KOSA, which had been tried four times in Congress in 2022.
“Not only does the KIDS Act remove the duty of care, it affirmatively disavows it, rather than even being silent,” Pinter said. “It says nothing in this bill shall be construed to impart a duty of care.”
The groups also pointed out the package covers a smaller set of social media platforms, including video games, video streaming services, and messaging applications.
The letter was addressed to Guthrie, Pallone, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is supportive of the deal, according to a source familiar.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the House Energy and Commerce Committee defended the bill, arguing it would “create the most comprehensive, impactful protections to date for kids online,” and it the “best chance” to hold Big Tech accountable.
“Our bipartisan bill addresses the kinds of harms that are pervasive on the internet, and suggestions otherwise are flat out wrong,” the spokesperson said. “It’s time to protect children and teens in the default settings and the basic design of platforms to put a stop to the predators who are taking advantage of kids.”
Pinter added parent and child advocates are frustrated because they felt they did “not get a seat at the table” on the bipartisan deal.
Safety and parent groups flocked to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to mark Social Media Victims Remembrance Day. During the rally, Blumenthal further railed against the elimination of the duty of care provision.
“Nothing complicated about the duty of care … if you make a defective toaster and it blows up in someone’s home, they’re liable. If you make a defective car and it careens into a tree, they’re liable,” the Connecticut Democrat said.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Brett Guthrie Frank Pallone Marsha Blackburn Mike Johnson Richard Blumenthal Steve ScaliseCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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