Cruz Backs Kids Online Safety Act, Pledging Senate Committee Action

Instead of requiring platforms to exercise reasonable care to prevent harms to minors, it directs companies to maintain reasonable policies on those issues. Democrats argued the narrowed language would prevent platforms from being held legally accountable.

The House proposal also includes language preempting state laws on KOSA provisions, which Democrats said would hinder state-level efforts. Technology safety groups that helped shape earlier versions of the bill largely opposed the House measure. They stated it is not what KOSA was meant to be.

Earlier versions of the Senate bill faced resistance in the House over potential censorship and freedom of speech issues. Last-minute changes, developed with input from X, were incorporated into the current text to strengthen protections for minors' free speech online.

The Senate version retains the duty of care standard. It would hold platforms liable for designing products that promote addictive use and contribute to harms such as cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, illegal drug use, eating disorders and suicide.

The bill has secured endorsements from X, Apple and OpenAI. OpenAI faces multiple lawsuits over the design of its chatbots. One related measure, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy and Protection Act known as COPPA 2.0, already passed the Senate by unanimous consent earlier this year.

Lawmakers have discussed an updated version that could also pass the House. It expands a 1998 law restricting collection of children's personal data and applies new limits to teenagers ages 13 to 16.

Tuesday's rally was organized by mothers who lost children to suicide or drug overdoses linked to online activity. One participant described her 16-year-old daughter's death by suicide after relentless cyberbullying on social media, including an incident in which peers shared private messages that outed her as a rape survivor.

Advocates are pressing the Senate to pass its version of KOSA rather than the House package. They describe the Senate bill as the most effective, thoroughly vetted and bipartisan federal online safety measure for children yet written. It remains unclear when the Senate Commerce Committee will take up the legislation or whether the bills will be packaged together or considered separately.

In the previous Congress, KOSA and COPPA 2.0 were combined but ultimately stalled in the House. >"If we do nothing else in Washington, we need to be protecting our kids," Cruz said, noting he is proud to fight alongside moms and dads who are energized for change.

— Ted Cruz, May 12, 2026 (The Washington Times) The legislation's path forward now depends on whether the Senate can produce a version that overcomes lingering House concerns about free speech while satisfying advocates who want strong accountability measures for technology platforms.