10/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/18/2024 19:20
In July 2024, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of advancing S. 2073: Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA). The legislation provides guidelines regarding a company's "duty of care" - a legal term referring to the moral or legal responsibility to prevent harm - to protect children and 13- to 17-year-old teens from harms on some online platforms and video games, messaging applications, and video streaming services (i.e., covered platforms). These harms are defined as:
While President Biden has urged Congress to pass the bill, the Senate will need to reconcile its KOSPA bill with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's revised versions of the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) that address similar issues. If KOSPA remains intact through those negotiations and is signed into law, legislators will appoint a committee to provide further guidance on how to interpret KOSPA within 18 months of the law's passage. However, impacted companies can take the initiative to begin a programmatic approach towards achieving the goals now, which may include consulting with research experts in child development, user experience, and legal accountability.
Under the most recent draft of KOSPA, covered platforms that provide services that are used or likely to be used by children and teens may be required to prioritize business, functional, and design requirements that address the developmental needs of such users. While designing platforms that are easy to use, compellingly consumable, and socially engaging may remain a high priority, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and legislators have signaled a need to focus on health-centric design requirements, particularly for minors.
Changes to the user interface and experience may need to satisfy harm-prevention requirements in ways that are clearly defined, operationalized, measured, and tracked. Additionally, oversight programs may be needed to inform updates to features based on the evolving horizon of potential new threats, while balancing a company's need to increase market share and profits.
To comply with KOSPA as proposed, impacted platforms may need to: