WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) released the following statement after passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s and Teens Online Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). The Senate passed the bill 91-3.

“Marylander Grace McComas was only 15 when she took her own life after being viciously cyberbullied. The Senate voted today, by an overwhelming 91-3, to support families and protect children so that no one else needs to experience the hurt Grace endured or the heartbreak her family lives with today. This legislative package, which we hope the House of Representatives will pass quickly upon their return, aims to create baseline requirements to hold social media companies accountable for keeping youth safe online.

“The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would create tools, safeguards, and transparency requirements applicable to social media, social networks, multiplayer online video games, social messaging applications, and video streaming services. This legislation is the product of months of bipartisan negotiations and engagement with civil society, with important changes being made to protect speech and to reduce unintended consequences.

“Similarly, Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) would modernize and strengthen the existing COPPA statute, which instituted basic privacy protections for users under the age of 13, including notice and parental consent requirements. Together, these pieces of legislation make meaningful progress toward reducing the very real risks that children and youth encounter in the online environment today.”