On April 20, 2026, a national coalition of parents, bereaved families, and digital rights advocates arrived on Capitol Hill to launch a coordinated legislative push for comprehensive federal online safety laws. The advocacy group, led by organizations including Fairplay, ParentsSOS, and the Design It For Us coalition, is urging Congress to finalize and pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). This renewed effort comes as the technology industry faces increasing scrutiny over the integration of generative artificial intelligence into social media platforms and its subsequent impact on minor users.
The Kids Online Safety Act, a central focus of the April 20 meetings, proposes a legal duty of care for social media companies. This standard would require platforms to mitigate specific harms to minors, including content promoting self-harm, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Technical provisions within the bill mandate that platforms provide minors with algorithmic transparency, allowing users and independent researchers to understand how recommendation engines prioritize content. Additionally, KOSA would require platforms to enable the strongest privacy and safety settings by default, including the deactivation of features designed to maximize engagement, such as auto-play and infinite scroll.
Simultaneously, advocates are pushing for the passage of COPPA 2.0, which would update the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The proposed legislation seeks to ban targeted advertising to children and teens and raises the age of protected users from 13 to 17. It also includes a Digital Eraser requirement, allowing parents and minors to delete personal data collected by platforms. According to data presented by the advocates, current data collection practices involve the harvesting of thousands of data points per minor user, which are then utilized for behavioral profiling and ad targeting.
A new component of the April 20 advocacy effort is the AI Safeguards for Minors amendment. This provision addresses the rise of AI-generated deepfakes and non-consensual intimate imagery. The amendment would require major technology firms to implement proactive detection tools and rapid-response takedown protocols for AI-generated content that targets minors. Advocates cited a 300 percent increase in reported AI-related safety incidents involving minors over the previous 24 months as a primary driver for these technical mandates.
During the briefings, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Senator Marsha Blackburn, the primary sponsors of KOSA, issued a joint statement emphasizing that the legislation has reached a critical mass of support. The senators noted that the bill currently has over 70 co-sponsors in the Senate. Industry representatives from the NetChoice trade association, however, expressed concerns regarding the potential for these laws to infringe upon First Amendment rights and create technical hurdles for age verification. The advocacy groups plan to continue their meetings with House and Senate leadership through the end of the week.