WASHINGTON, DC (October 15, 2025) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and over 400 organizations are urging passage of the Kids Online Safety Act in a new letter to Congressional leadership.
“Big Tech prioritizes engagement over online safety and kids are paying the price, experiencing sexual extortion, grooming, and exploitation at an unprecedented scale. The Kids Online Safety Act creates a critical legal duty for platforms to design products that protect minors; it’s time to pass KOSA and make online child safety a national priority,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
The letter was signed by 408 organizations from 50 states and the District of Columbia who collectively represent advocates, citizen, health care professionals, law enforcement officers, researchers, parents, academicians, students, and family members who have survived preventable deaths of beloved children.
“KOSA not only advances child safety, it enhances privacy online by giving kids and parents control over their data and algorithms that target them. KOSA has rare, genuine bipartisan backing because protecting kids online isn’t partisan, it’s just common sense,” said Dr. Eleanor Gaetan, Vice President and Director of Public Policy, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
KOSA would promote online safety in the following ways:
- Default to Safety: KOSA would require that platforms likely to be accessed by children have the strongest safety settings turned on by default for minor-aged accounts.
- Duty of Care: KOSA creates a legal duty for platforms to design products that protect minors, with potential liability if they fail to do so.
- Safeguards and Tools: KOSA mandates that platforms provide safety safeguards for minors and tools for parents or guardians to reduce online risks.
- Transparency: KOSA requires platforms to publicly disclose their data practices and child safety measures to ensure accountability.
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.
