‘Nothing really happens’: Lawmakers frustrated about inaction on kids’ online safety bills

Lawmakers are tired of teaming up on bipartisan bills to protect kids online, only to have the broadly supported measures languish.

Dozens of bipartisan bills on the topic exist, and many have advanced through committees of jurisdiction with unanimous or overwhelming support. But few have made it to the floor, let alone passed through both chambers and become law.

“What is going on in the Senate and the House where, no matter who’s in charge, nothing really happens?” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, asked during a hearing in December.

Frustration was the theme of that Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they want to start turning their bipartisan proposals into law.

“It is astounding to me that there are laws in the physical space that protect children. You cannot endanger a child. You can’t sell them alcohol. You can’t sell them tobacco. You cannot expose them to pornography,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican. “But in the virtual space, our children are vulnerable 24/7, 365.”

Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, said the panel has approved plenty of legislation that both parties “think would change things for the better, and then it disappeared.”

“When it comes to taking them to the floor to enact them on the floor and eventually send them over to the House, we drop the ball completely,” he said. “That’s got to end.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, is skeptical that anything will happen so long as big technology companies have a “hammer hold” on Congress.

“Let’s just be honest: We may as well put a sign on the floor of the Senate that says Property of Big Tech because nothing moves across that floor, in my observation, nothing that they don’t want,” he said. “They spend money to control and to buy access and influence.”

Mr. Hawley said the only thing he believes can break that influence is the voice of victims, parents who have lost their children to the harms of social media and have become advocates to prevent other kids from dying.

“If we can’t do this as Congress, I mean what are we here for?” said Sen. Katie Britt, Alabama Republican. “We are here to protect the most vulnerable. We are here to protect our greatest asset, and to me, that is the next generation.”

The committee was debating measures, both new and old, to strengthen law enforcement tools for cracking down on online predators. But the frustration over congressional inaction was not limited to those bills.

Ms. Blackburn and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, brought up their bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, which would impose requirements on social media companies to protect kids on their platforms, including default safety and privacy settings, and enhanced parental controls.

That bill was one of the few online safety measures that did receive a floor vote last Congress. It passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote but stalled in the House.

“We want a law,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “We don’t just want speeches.”

He said the House Republicans introduced a new and “weakened” version of KOSA this Congress that guts a key provision, known as the duty of care. It would hold social media companies accountable if they fail to make design changes to prevent kids from a range harms, including sexual exploitation, suicidal behavior and severe online harassment.

“Decimating that duty of care is a disservice to all of the parents and all of the children who have become victims,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

Two days after the Senate hearing, the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over online commerce approved that version of KOSA on a party-line 13-10 vote.

Democrats on the subcommittee called the measure “watered down” and said it would not pass muster in the Senate.

“I’m so frustrated that we are ignoring common sense, bipartisan, bicameral bills that are strong enough to actually hold big tech accountable and actually get over the finish line becoming law,” said Rep. Kim Schrier, Washington Democrat.

Rep. Kathy Castor, Florida Democrat, who led a previous bipartisan House companion bill to the Senate version of KOSA, said omitting the duty of care “gives the big tech companies a pass from their infliction of mental and physical harm to children.”

She said that provision and others in the bill were crafted “after many years of hearings and education by members of Congress on how we protect kids from physical and mental harms, from suicide, from bullying.”

Republicans on the subcommittee have said the changes to the KOSA bill are designed to ensure it holds up in the face of a likely court challenge.

There will be opportunity for further changes to the measure when the full committee takes it up in 2026.

The subcommittee advanced a total of 18 bills to protect children in the digital age, 16 of which were advanced with bipartisan support via voice vote.

“Our approach is clear, protect kids, empower parents and ’future proof’ our legislation as new risks and technologies emerge,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Florida Republican and the subcommittee chairman.

The legislation that the panel advanced includes bills to require app stores to conduct age verification, and social media and gaming platforms to allow for third-party safety software integration that would alert parents when their children encounter harmful content.

The subcommittee also advanced measures to prohibit data brokers from collecting minors’ personal information, to prevent social media platforms from conducting market research on children under 13 and to implement restrictions around how chatbots interact with minors.

“We have been intentional and thoughtful in shaping these proposals to ensure strong protections for kids while maintaining legal durability and effectiveness,” said Kentucky GOP Rep. Brett Guthrie, chairman of the full committee. “And we remain committed to working with parents, industry experts and other stakeholders to continue to strengthen this package.”

The Senate has not advanced as many kids online safety bills through committee this Congress.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said he plans to hold a markup in his panel in the new year.

That markup will include the Senate version of KOSA and likely his bipartisan bill called the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would ban children under 13 from using the platforms.

The Senate Judiciary Committee last June unanimously advanced a bill called the Stop CSAM Act, which seeks to combat the online sexual exploitation of children.

Mr. Durbin said the threat is rapidly accelerating, citing statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization received more than 23,000 tips about financially motivated “sextortion” crimes in the first half of 2025, compared to 139 for all of 2021.

“It’s getting worse, and acknowledged by all of us [is] a sense of frustration because this is actually an issue that receives bipartisan focus and a desire on our part to do more than what we’ve done so far,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Democrat.

Mr. Graham said he will suggest to Senate leadership that the chamber dedicate a week or two of floor time in February to the issue of protecting kids online.

He suggested February because that month marks the 30th anniversary of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that protects online platforms from liability over content their users post.

Mr. Graham and other senators have expressed support for repealing or at least significantly overhauling Section 230.

“I strongly believe that Section 230 has long outlived its use, and it is now a real vessel for evil that needs to come to an end,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat.