“The Kids Online Safety Act is back” read multiple headlines as a “bipartisan pair of senators reintroduced” the bill May 14 with a subtle change in hopes that the legislation — which thankfully flatlined in the U.S. House after it passed 91-3 in the U.S. Senate — will fare better this go-round. 

The primary difference this time? The party affiliation of the lead sponsor of the bill now has an “R” instead of a “D.” The prior two times the bill was introduced (Feb. 16, 2022 and May 2, 2023), however, the lead sponsor of the bill was Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT). 

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), despite this minor change, very much remains a Democrat bill as it has been left largely unchanged since its most recent iteration from December 2024 languished and rightfully withered on the vine.

What then is wrong with the Senate version of KOSA? 

Its supporters would have us believe that it is quite simply not a censorship bill. In fact, its sponsors even claim that “changes were made to further make clear that KOSA would not censor,” but just because you state something is true, doesn’t make it so. The devil truly is in the details.

In short, the anti-free speech legislation would make tech companies liable if the content shared on their platforms subjectively caused a child “depressive disorders” and/or “anxiety.” It even penalizes platforms that permit alleged “online harassment” of minors.

But that’s not all.

Beyond the subjective language that could induce platforms to censor even more constitutionally protected online speech, KOSA would create a new Ministry of Truth disguised with the otherwise benign name the “Kids Online Safety Council.” This council’s membership, in addition to providing recommendations to platforms on content, would even be required to meet Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-style quotas. 

And there’s more. 

If the Senate version of KOSA were to pass, it would empower unelected bureaucrats to produce “remedies” for online harm, create new cash flows for the infamous Censorship Industrial Complex, strongarm Big Tech companies into eliminating anonymous speech and even allow for attorneys general to use state courts to target online speech.

But what’s more, KOSA goes to great lengths to outsource to private industry, which at first blush may sound appealing, but isn’t in practice. For starters, KOSA makes it difficult for victims of censorship to get justice in court by outsourcing the enforcement of censorship to the tech platforms themselves, largely removing victims’ ability to bring action against government actors directly. Furthermore, the censorship legislation appears to also outsource government authority to a private trade association, the American Psychiatric Association, which may or may not adhere to objective criterion for terms and phrases already vaguely provided in the legislation itself. The APA has already shown itself to have a leftist bent, lobbying against statutes regulating so-called “gender affirming care” and even pushing practitioners to incorporate critical race theory into their treatment.    

Now, a brief walkthrough on what transpired the last time this censorship bill was making waves a little under a year ago:

After KOSA swept through the Senate in late July 2024, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) did not immediately schedule a vote on the Blumenthal version of the bill as the house had just begun a six-week summer recess.

Upon return, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed through its own version of KOSA during a committee markup hearing led by Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), stripping the controversial “duty of care” provisions pushed by Democrats found in the Senate version. The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL).

MRC Free Speech America reported remarks from then-MRC President Brent Bozell at the time:

“Media Research Center President Brent Bozell applauded the House bill but cautioned conservatives. ‘Protecting children is extremely important, but we should not fall into the trap of allowing Big Tech to censor us, which we know will happen on issues like gender ideology and abortion,’ Bozell said. ‘I support the current House bill. If the Senate’s censorship provisions are added to the bill under the cloak of darkness, conservatives will have to oppose it.’”

But the MRC was not alone. Speaker Johnson similarly slammed the Blumenthal bill as “very problematic” and indicated that he would not bring it up for a vote, joining critics who have repeatedly warned that it would incentivize censorship.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who voted against the Senate Democrat bill, warned back in July 2024: “This is insane. This bill is not well-thought out.” Paul went on to call the bill “Pandora’s box for censorship,” and further suggested that it “opens the door to nearly limitless content moderation, as people can and will argue that almost any form of content could contribute to some form of mental health disorder.”

Then, in December, KOSA was repackaged and reintroduced yet again in what Bozell referred to as Blumenthal’s “Trojan Horse” for censorship. Bozell explained, “Blumenthal’s new version of KOSA pressures tech companies to censor any content that could be a ‘contributing factor’ to ‘anxiety.’ These nebulous terms enable government censors and state prosecutors to coerce tech platforms into expanding their already extensive censorship operations.”

Sen. Paul, joined by others as well, again piled on. Paul warned, “Reminder: KOSA poses such a dire threat to our First Amendment rights that House and Senate leadership must not agree to add it at the last minute to larger pieces of legislation, like the Defense or government spending bills.”

Which leads us to today. It’s back, with a new lead sponsor, but the same old problems. 

As MRC Free Speech America’s Schneider has stated before, “We can protect kids from voracious tech oligarchs while also protecting free speech rights. [Speaker Johnson] gets it.”

Pro-free speech advocates must hold the line and not fall prey to the single letter switcheroo from “D” to “R.” Simply stating that KOSA doesn’t censor belies the underlying problems with the bill’s often-times vague, anti-free speech language and the censorship incentives it places on Big Tech platforms to protect their bottom line.

MRC Senior Counsel for Investigations Tim Kilcullen contributed to this report.

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