House panel advances kids safety bills despite Democratic opposition

Source: The Hill

12/11/25 5:37 PM ET


A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee advanced a slate of 18 kids’ online safety bills to the full panel Thursday despite Democratic opposition to key legislation that could complicate the effort down the line.

While lawmakers cleared about a dozen bills without any pushback, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act both moved forward on party-line votes, as Democrats rejected recent changes to the legislation.

“I am furious,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), the top Democrat on the subcommittee, said at the outset of Thursday’s markup. “I think the legislation that has been proposed is terribly inadequate.” “It is wrong right now for us to continue with the legislation that is on the page today that we are talking about, because that leaves out the big issues that we are fighting for,” she added.

GOP leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee released an updated version of KOSA last month. The changes to the bill, which is the centerpiece of long-standing kids’ safety efforts, seek to address First Amendment concerns that plagued the legislation last year.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5645395-online-privacy-protection-teens/