FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 15, 2025
Contact: Ashwin Verghese, Communications Director, [email protected], 508-263-0289
MEDIA ADVISORY
Over 400 organizations, including Heritage Action for America, the NAACP, Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Fairplay, and ParentsSOS, sent a letter to House and Senate leadership today urging them to pass the Kids Online Safety Act this Congress.
The letter states: “The undersigned organizations — who collectively represent advocates, citizens, health care professionals, law enforcement officers, researchers, parents, academicians, students, and family members who have survived preventable deaths of beloved children — appeal to you in sorrow to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), S.1748, the most effective legislative response to the indisputable dangers facing children online, this Congress.”
The letter is signed by 408 organizations, including nearly 70 national groups as well as organizations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and arrives just days after KOSA passed the 60 cosponsor threshold in the Senate, giving the bipartisan bill filibuster-proof support in the upper chamber. House leaders are reportedly preparing to introduce children’s online safety legislation, and the letter demonstrates that a tremendous coalition believes the Senate version of KOSA is the best way to protect children from online harms.
House leadership has consistently refused to advance KOSA, even though the legislation passed the Senate 91-3 last summer and was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee a few months later. KOSA has yet to be introduced in the House this Congress.
Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said: “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.”
Josh Golin, Executive Director, Fairplay, said: “It’s clear that KOSA is by far the best path forward to achieving the goal that every family in this country wants Congress to achieve: protecting kids from deadly online harms. No other bill has more bipartisan support in Congress or has the depth and breadth of support in civil society. The House and Senate could pass KOSA quickly and easily if their leaders simply allowed them to. They must do so now, before any more young lives are lost to Congress’ inaction.”
Holly Grosshans, Senior Counsel for Tech Policy, Common Sense Media, said: “It is long overdue for technology companies to put the well-being and safety of children and teens first. Again and again, these companies have promised to make their platforms safer — and time and again, they’ve failed to deliver. Families across the United States need action, not promises. Common Sense Media is proud to join more than 400 organizations in calling on Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. We applaud Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn for their bipartisan leadership to make the internet safer for kids and teens. While no single policy can solve every online harm, Congress must act now by passing KOSA and the long-delayed updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”
Christine Peat, PhD, President, Board of Directors, Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action, said: “We have heard countless stories from grieving parents and families whose children have been negatively impacted by these harmful algorithms. We stand with them in urging Congress to pass KOSA so that there are meaningful guardrails put into place to prevent a worsening of this mental health crisis.”
Alix Fraser, Vice President of Advocacy, Issue One, said: “The evidence and the relentless harm to our children continues to mount every day. It is time to hold social media companies accountable for deliberately designing addictive products with deadly implications. The Kids Online Safety Act would be an historic step towards the better online world we all deserve. We urge Congress to put the American people, and our future generations, above the profits of the tech giants, who have consistently proven that they are incapable of regulating themselves.”
Joann Bogard, ParentsSOS founding member and Mother of Mason Bogard, forever 15, said: “Survivor parents like me have spent the better part of the last three years traveling to D.C. to urge lawmakers to protect our kids from preventable, life-threatening online harms. Our grieving families are a constant reminder that we need change now. KOSA enjoys broad support from both sides of the aisle because it has been thoroughly vetted by lawmakers, tech experts, and parents. Congress has a rare second chance to do the right thing and honor our children; we need them to take it and protect all kids online.”
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About Fairplay
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at https://fairplayforkids.org