S9 Episode 4: KOSA - The Best Thing You’ll Do All Week // Hillary Wilkinson

62 Republican and Democrat senators are standing united on this bill (KOSA) to protect our children.

Resources

For More Info:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1409

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Visit the Healthy Screen Habits "Take Action" Page and check out the Contact Your Legislators section to support KOSA today.

Show Transcript

Hillary Wilkinson:

Hey - if you’re here today and listening it’s because you care.  If my metrics read correctly I can tell you there is a high likelihood that you are a mom.  And if there's one thing I know about momhood it’s that you start your day with 5 things that need to get done, you do 5,000 things by the end of the day and still there are 3 things on that original list that remain undone. How many times do you think - if I only had more time?

Today I’m giving you more time.  Today, instead of a regular 30 minute episode on digital wellness, I’m going to cut it short and give you time to do what might be the most important thing you check off your list all week. First, I’m going to tell you why you need to take the time to do the thing…..

In February we saw the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snapchat , Discord and X, formerly known as Twitter, testify  before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. This was a huge day for those families who have been devastated by the loss of  their children due to online harms directly attributed to social media.

Following this committee meeting Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was announced with updated language —with 62 senate co-sponsors!

Its no secret that we stand in very divided times as a nation.  That being said - Both Republicans and Democrats are standing united on this bill to protect our children. KOSA requires social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt-out of algorithmic recommendations—and requires platforms to enable the strongest settings by default. The bill creates a duty for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harms to minors, and provides academic researchers and non-profit organizations with access to critical datasets from social media platforms to foster research regarding harms to the safety and well-being of minors.

KOSA provides families with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against threats to children’s health and well-being online. The legislation would require social media platforms put the interests of children first by requiring these platforms to make safety the default. To give kids and parents tools and to ensure that parents and policymakers can assess whether social media platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids.

This is the first time in 25 years that an online child protection bill has such strong momentum to reach the Senate Floor. We - the American public - made this happen! Change is happening because of those of you who contacted your legislators, supported our work at Healthy Screen Habits, shared what you learned through our presentations and podcasts.  This would not be happening without you.

The next step is to get KOSA to the Senate Floor! Here is where you need to use that extra time you are getting today - contact your Senators to urge Leader Schumer to bring KOSA to the floor for a vote—these phone calls and emails  really make a difference - and it may save the life of your kid. 

 Take this time right now - if you don’t know who your state senator is….I know who does…and chances are Mr Google has a link that will also get you right in touch with them.

Ask your Senator to urge the Majority Leader to bring KOSA to the floor and make your child’s future your priority today.