US Senate child online safety legislation

In late July 2026 the Senate Commerce Committee marked up the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), moving the proposal toward a full Senate vote. The bill, backed by child‑protection groups such as SAVE, would impose a “duty of care” on online platforms and is part of a broader legislative push that also includes the stalled Safeguard Kids Act on AI education.

Earlier in the year, on March 5 2026, the Senate unanimously approved the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). The law expands federal privacy safeguards to cover teenagers aged 13‑16, restricts individually targeted advertising using minors’ data, and creates an “eraser button” that lets children or their parents request correction or deletion of personal information. The companion House measure (H.R. 6291) remains stalled.

On August 4 2026 the Senate Commerce Committee advanced a package of five bipartisan bills aimed at protecting children from online harms: the Youth AI Privacy Act, the Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act of 2026, the CHATBOT Act, the SCREEN Act, and a reintroduced Kids Online Safety Act. The markup was led by Committee Chair Sen. Ted Cruz (R‑TX) and Ranking Member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D‑WA). KOSA was re‑introduced by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R‑TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D‑CT) with support from Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer. Advocacy groups such as Enough Is Enough and the News/Media Alliance praised the bipartisan effort, noting the need to balance child protection with access to quality journalism.

All five bills now await further Senate consideration.