House Passes Kids Online Safety Bill, Setting Up Clash with Senate Over Stricter Regulations

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act on June 29, 2026, by a vote of 267-117, requiring social media companies to set minors' accounts to the strongest safety settings by default, block private messaging for children under 13, and implement age verification for pornographic websites. The bipartisan bill, negotiated by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone, faces opposition from Senate lawmakers who passed a stricter 2024 version of KOSA that included a duty-of-care provision the House explicitly excluded. The standoff centers on enforcement mechanisms and knowledge standards, with parental advocacy groups split between supporting the House approach and demanding tougher Senate provisions be added in final negotiations.

House KIDS Act passage

• ▪The centerpiece of the KIDS Act is the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which requires social media companies to set minors' accounts to the strongest safety and privacy settings by default
• ▪Rep. Gus Bilirakis is a Florida Republican and one of the lead authors of the KIDS Act
• ▪The KIDS Act would block private messaging for children younger than 13 and disappearing messaging features for teens younger than 17
• ▪The KIDS Act includes more than a dozen bills that Energy and Commerce Committee lawmakers have worked on for years
• ▪The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act) on June 29, 2026, with a vote of 267-117
• ▪The KIDS Act includes a provision requiring data brokers that sell minors' data to register with the Federal Trade Commission and pay an annual fee
• ▪Brett Guthrie is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a Kentucky Republican
• ▪The June 29, 2026 House vote on the KIDS Act marked the first time the full House waded into the debate over children's online safety

Duty of care provision debate

• ▪The U.S. Senate passed a version of KOSA in 2024 that has served as the north star for many lawmakers and advocacy groups involved in the fight against Big Tech
• ▪Sen. Richard Blumenthal is a Connecticut Democrat and co-author of the Senate version of KOSA
• ▪Rep. Kim Schrier is a Washington Democrat and a House co-author of KOSA
• ▪The House-passed version of the KIDS Act omits a duty-of-care provision that senators say gives teeth to enforce KOSA's requirements
• ▪The KIDS Act explicitly says that none of the requirements in the measure may be viewed as imposing a duty of care

State preemption authority

• ▪Democrats opposed the version of the KIDS Act approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in March 2026 partly because they objected to language Republicans added to preempt states from enacting or enforcing similar laws
• ▪Rep. Frank Pallone is the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and represents New Jersey
• ▪Brett Guthrie and Rep. Frank Pallone spent the months after the March 2026 markup negotiating additional changes and announced a bipartisan deal on June 24, 2026

Knowledge standard definitions

• ▪Sen. Maria Cantwell is the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and represents Washington
• ▪The version of the KIDS Act the House passed on June 29, 2026 includes multiple definitions of knowledge

Parental advocacy group divisions

• ▪Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS) is supporting the House KIDS Act while still seeking to have the duty of care added to any final version negotiated with the Senate

Perspective of Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS)

• ▪Parents for Safe Online Spaces supports the House KIDS Act while continuing to advocate for adding the duty-of-care provision in final Senate negotiations