WASHINGTON, DC (August 5, 2026) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) commended the Senate Commerce Committee for unanimously passing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) out of the committee.
“The voices of survivor parents and advocates supporting KOSA have clearly been heard by the Senate Commerce Committee. Now the full Senate must pass KOSA with its strong ‘Duty of Care’ provision that will compel tech platforms to design their platforms with children in mind and hold them accountable for online harms. The Senate previously passed KOSA 91-3, and there’s no reason this shouldn’t pass again,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“A prime, egregious example of why tech platforms must be compelled to prioritize child safety is TikTok. A new Bloomberg investigation revealed that TikTok ‘intentionally withheld a safety feature from millions of people’ and that one 16-year-old boy in that group was fed suicide and self-harm content in the days leading up to his suicide. The implications for TikTok are extensive, but what is clear is that TikTok, and all tech platforms, need accountability.
“We commend the Committee for also passing the CHATBOT Act. It’s crucial that children are protected from AI exploitation and other harms that chatbots have delivered to them.”
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.
To schedule an interview with NCOSE, please contact press@ncose.com.
