Senate passes bipartisan bills to protect children, teens online

One of the bills, the Kids Online Safety Act, is stirring concerns over censorship and schools’ ability to use ed tech.

Senate passage of the two bills follows a recent Biden administration report calling for legislation to protect children and teens online. The administration also sought a ban on advertising targeted at young people and the collection of their personal data.

Prior to Tuesday’s action, the Federal Education Privacy Coalition sent a letter to Senate leadership on Monday strongly supporting COPPA 2.0. The coalition said the measure would enable “schools to provide their students with access to edtech platforms when the school has entered a contract with the edtech vendor and has thoroughly vetted the platform for privacy and security safeguards.”