Understanding the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has been one of the most debated pieces of federal legislation affecting children's privacy and online safety. First introduced in 2022 and reintroduced in multiple Congressional sessions, KOSA aims to impose new obligations on social media platforms and online services to protect minors from harmful content. Here is what parents and families need to know about KOSA in 2026, including its current status and what it means for your children's digital privacy.

What Is the Kids Online Safety Act?

KOSA is a proposed federal law that would require social media platforms and online services to take steps to prevent and mitigate harms to minors under 17. The legislation was originally sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support in 2024.

The bill's core provisions include:

• Duty of care: Platforms would be required to act in the best interests of minors by preventing and mitigating specific harms including bullying, exploitation, and content promoting self-harm
• Strongest default privacy settings: Platforms must enable the strongest privacy and safety settings by default for users identified as minors
• Parental tools: Companies must provide parents with tools to supervise their children's online activity and control privacy settings
• Transparency: Platforms must make their algorithms and content recommendation systems transparent and provide opt-out mechanisms for personalized content
• FTC enforcement: The Federal Trade Commission would enforce KOSA's requirements, with the ability to levy fines against non-compliant platforms

Where Does KOSA Stand in 2026?

As of June 2026, KOSA has not yet been signed into law, but it continues to move through Congress:

• Senate: The bill was reintroduced in the 119th Congress in May 2025 and continues to have bipartisan support in the upper chamber
• House: In March 2026, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, a package that includes a modified version of KOSA, in a party-line 28-24 vote
• Key change: The House version removed the "duty of care" provision, which was considered the law's most powerful enforcement mechanism, replacing it with a narrower set of requirements

The differences between the Senate and House versions mean further negotiations are needed before a final bill can reach the President's desk.

Privacy Implications of KOSA

While KOSA is designed to protect children, privacy advocates have raised important concerns about unintended consequences:

Age Verification Challenges

To enforce age-based protections, platforms may need to verify users' ages. This could require collecting additional personal data such as government IDs, biometric data, or facial scans, raising new privacy risks for both children and adults.

Data Collection Paradox

Protecting minors may require platforms to collect and process more data about their users to identify who is underage, potentially creating new databases of sensitive information about children.

Content Filtering Concerns

Some critics worry that the "duty of care" provision could lead platforms to over-censor content, particularly affecting LGBTQ+ youth, mental health resources, and other sensitive but important information.

Algorithmic Transparency

On the positive side, KOSA's transparency requirements could give families unprecedented visibility into how platforms use algorithms to serve content to minors, empowering parents to make more informed decisions.

What Parents Can Do Right Now

Regardless of whether KOSA passes in its current form, parents can take immediate steps to protect their children's privacy online:

Review Platform Privacy Settings

• Enable the most restrictive privacy settings on every platform your child uses
• Disable location sharing, public profiles, and direct messaging from strangers
• Turn off personalized advertising and content recommendations where possible

Limit Data Exposure

• Use minimal personal information when creating accounts for children — avoid real names, birthdates, and school names
• Do not share your child's information on social media, including photos that reveal their school, activities, or location
• Review and delete apps your child no longer uses, as dormant accounts still hold personal data

Monitor Data Broker Listings

Data brokers do not just collect information on adults. Children's data can appear on people-search sites and public records databases, especially as they become teenagers. Checking for and removing this data proactively protects them before they enter the workforce or college application process.

Educate Your Children

• Teach children to recognize phishing attempts and social engineering tactics
• Explain why they should never share personal information like their address, phone number, or school name online
• Discuss the permanence of online content and how it can affect their future

Protect Your Family's Privacy Today

Legislative protections like KOSA are important, but they take years to pass and may not go far enough. Proactive data removal is the most effective way to protect your family right now.

PrivacyOn offers family plans covering up to 5 people, making it easy to protect your entire household. With continuous monitoring across 100+ data brokers, dark web monitoring for breached credentials, and automatic re-removal when your data reappears, PrivacyOn provides the comprehensive protection that families need while waiting for legislation to catch up with the digital age.