All Current State Online Child Protection Laws in Jeopardy
WASHINGTON, DC (December 1, 2025) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) calls on Congress to reject the new U.S. House version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) which has stripped the bill of all meaningful safeguards for children.
“The House’s version of KOSA reads like a Big Tech Wishlist. All meaningful protections for children have been gutted—such as the Duty of Care and the opt-out for kids from predatory algorithms—meanwhile a sweeping preemption clause has been added, which would essentially eviscerate any state legislative efforts to protect children online,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“By removing any mention of the Duty of Care, personalized recommendation systems (a.k.a. algorithms), and meaningful transparency reports, the House’s proposed bill is worse than their sabotage of KOSA in 2024 when the House refused to bring the bill for a vote even after overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, from the public, and the White House,” said McNamara.
“Passing this shell of a bill is worse than inaction, it would strip children of protections they’ve been granted in many states. All current state online child protection laws are in jeopardy.”
The promise of the Kids Online Safety Act was to require tech companies to make reasonable efforts to design their products with safety in mind — something we demand from every other consumer product. KOSA accomplished this goal through three primary mechanisms, 1) a modest duty of care, 2) the ability for parents and children to opt-out of predatory algorithms, and 3) transparency regarding the use of minors’ data, child safety measures, and the assessment of these safety measures. The duty of care, which was arguably the heart and soul of KOSA, simply required platforms to exercise reasonable care in the creation and implementation of design features to prevent and mitigate certain harms to minors. All three of these hallmarks of KOSA have been gutted from the House version.
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.
