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The clock is ticking for Congress to pass kids online safety legislation before the end of the year, but clashing priorities between the Senate and House are complicating a path forward.
In a rare breakthrough this week, lawmakers in the House reached a bipartisan deal on a package of kids safety bills, but it quickly met pushback from their Senate counterparts who are doubling down on their own versions, including one that could have the backing of the White House.
Facing pressure for years from kids safety groups, lawmakers have introduced dozens of bills to regulate social media and AI chatbots, but long-standing disagreements have stopped nearly everything from passing in time.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and ranking member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) announced on Monday they reached a deal on a sprawling kids safety package, called the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act.
The package, which initially did not have Democratic support, includes the landmark social media bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), along with portions of 13 other bills related to age verification, AI chatbots, data protections and raising awareness about drug sales on social media.
The controversial bill aims to hold social media companies accountable for the alleged harm their platforms cause to minors.
It notably differs from the Senate version by not including a “duty of care” provision, which would legally require platforms to “exercise reasonable care” to prevent harms to minors. These harms include suicide, substance use disorders, sexual exploitation and suicide.
“A lot of folks are concerned because we’re close to the finish line, and so we’re getting to a point where this is the most real it’s been,” said Jon Schweppe, a senior adviser at Americans Principles Project, a conservative nonprofit group.
“They are doing what they have to do with House politics,” added Schweppe, who was a senior adviser at the Federal Trade Commission until earlier this year. “You get something out of chamber there, Senate politics are going to be what they are.”
Removing the duty of care provision is a nonstarter for Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the Senate co-authors of the bill.
“If my colleagues are serious, they’re going to reject laws that eliminate the duty of care,” Blumenthal said at a Wednesday event marking Social Media Harm Victims Remembrance Day. “They’ll tell you it’s complicated, it’s difficult.”
“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.”
Tech watchdog groups were also not happy with the House’s proposal, arguing the duty of care provision — in which social media firms can be held liable for their design and operations — is the meat of the bill.
“Though tragedy has changed us, it has not weakened us, and we know a bad bill when we see it,” the grassroots organization Parents Rise said in a statement. “We have been very clear that we will not accept any kids’ online safety bill without a duty of care, or one that offers Big Tech an escape hatch from existing state laws, or a get out of jail free card.”
This is not the first time the House and Senate have disagreed on KOSA or the duty of care provision.
Lawmakers introduced KOSA four times in as many years, and while it passed the Senate easily in 2024, House Republicans’ concerns over censorship and freedom of speech prevented it from ever hitting the House floor.
While clashes on the issue are nothing new, a new effort by Blackburn and the White House to tie federal preemption of some state AI laws with kids safety laws is further muddying the waters.
Talks of negotiations started earlier this month, and appear to be ongoing.
The White House held two meetings this month with a handful of tech and policy organizations to discuss the package, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, granted anonymity to speak freely.
In last Thursday’s meeting, representatives from the White House told the organizations the package will include the Senate version of KOSA, the House’s version of the App Store Accountability Act and preemption language, the sources said, adding they were told this “could pass” the Senate before August recess.
The App Store Accountability Act would require age verification for access to an app store and parental consent for users younger than 18 years using app stores.
It is not clear the extent of preemption the White House has agreed to or whether it would cover AI or kids safety laws, or both.
“It was just presented in a take it or leave it fashion,” the source said, suggesting this could be a “final package.”
Blackburn’s No Fakes Act, a bill to protect artists from AI impersonation, is also expected to be included, another source close to negotiations with the White House told The Hill.
Attendees of the meeting included representatives from the Heritage Foundation, RAINN, Bull Moose Project, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Digital Childhood Alliance, American Principles Project and the America First Policy Institute, according to the two sources.
Despite his shared bill with Blackburn, Blumenthal told The Hill on Tuesday the two “haven’t really” discussed her negotiations.
Blumenthal is among many Democrats who opposed a proposed moratorium last year on state AI regulation, saying at the time “states have been on the frontline against election deepfakes and other AI abuses.”
The Connecticut Democrat seemed skeptical of the package, saying, “There’s nothing conceptually wrong with including AI preemption.”
“But my concern is the integrity of KOSA as a protection system,” Blumenthal said.
The technology industry and White House favor preemption over a patchwork of state laws AI firms say hamper development of the technology. Past efforts to pass AI preemption, or a moratorium on state laws, either as standalone bills or through larger packages have so far failed.
A bipartisan duo — Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) — released a draft AI framework proposal, but this has not been formally introduced.
Sen. Ted Cruz, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said Tuesday he expects the Senate version of KOSA will be on the next committee markup on kids safety, but he appeared open to conversations with the House.
“Those negotiations are ongoing,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Brett Guthrie Frank Pallone Frank Pallone Jr. KIDS Act Kids Online Safety Act kosa Marsha Blackburn Richard BlumenthalCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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