U.S. Congress' shortcomings on digital policy in recent years is well documented, particularly with legislating on data privacy and artificial intelligence. The struggle is not likely to change through the remainder of the 119th Congress, according to U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Speaking at a recent Punchbowl News event dedicated to children's online safety, Markey shed light on where things stand with his work to pass the Children and Teen's Online Safety Act, otherwise known as COPPA 2.0.
"I don't think there is a more compelling area than this," Markey said, noting he is "always hopeful" but lacks optimism with no imminent signs of finalization. He has now reintroduced proposed updates to his original 1998 children's privacy law in each of the last six congressional terms.
COPPA 2.0 is currently awaiting a full Senate vote after approval by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation 25 June. It marks the second time in as many years the bill has advanced out of committee. In 2024, COPPA 2.0 and the highly-debated Kids Online Safety Act cleared the full Senate on a 91-3 vote before the omnibus stalled in the House.
There's been no indication why the omnibus was dissolved this term, but it may give COPPA 2.0 better momentum. Punchbowl recently reported KOSA is not expected to move this session after its Republican sponsor, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., helped build opposition to proposed state-level AI law moratorium that was excluded from Congress' final reconciliation bill.
Markey's bill applies to children and teens aged 16 and under, providing bans on targeted advertising, a required data deletion mechanism, data minimization rules and an "actual knowledge" standard.
"It is an absolute, indispensable part of modern life that we give these tools to parents and kids so that they can protect themselves against the money-making 'kick them in the heart and you break your toe' attitudes social media companies have as they're thinking about these kids and teens as objects to be used for corporate advancement and profit making." Markey said.
Besides congressional support, COPPA 2.0 received endorsement from Google in the days prior to Senate Commerce approval. Speaking at the same Punchbowl event, Google Director of Privacy, Safety and Security, Government Affairs and Public Policy Kate Charlet indicated Google's support hinged the strength and "common sense" nature of the framework.
"I think, as a parent, we'd all like to see a lot of those key protections for all minors under 18," she said. The current applicability of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act is limited to ages 13 and under. "The second area is really around the question of banning personalized ads for minors. It's been in our practice to prohibit under 18s for many years. It's smart and common sense, but not an industry standard today. We'd like to see that bar rise."
Age verification and assurance
Markey and Charlet each delved into the issues around age verification and assurance, viewed as a potential solution to some children's online safety issues. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling to uphold Texas' age verification is bubbling up Congress' debate on the matter, according to Axios.
Verification and assurance laws — some broad and others targeted — already exist in many states. The Supreme Court ruling will allow states to enforce their laws more freely, which could spur more legislation and a state patchwork similar to that around comprehensive privacy legislation.
Congress is keen to bring legal certainty and equal protections under an overarching standard instead of watching the fragmentation unfold under a patchwork.
"I'm looking at that (Supreme Court) decision in order to see how we can work constitutionally to put protections in place," Markey said. "We're working to try and find where the path might exist. It's the beginning of a brand new era that might be able to result in fruitful results."
Federal lawmakers have a notable verification-related bill under consideration with the App Store Accountability Act. The bill, running concurrently in Senate and House, requires age verification to access online app stores with the goal of limiting minors' access to age-restricted content.
From the industry perspective, Google is among the proactive companies seeking to address verification and assurance appropriately. The company's children's online safety legislative framework issued in March includes callouts to requiring app stores to "securely provide industry standard age assurances only to developers who actually need them" while promoting "privacy-preserving" and "responsible use" of age signals.
At the Punchbowl event, Charlet said there needs to be a "holistic" conversation among stakeholders about the pitfalls of age verification and assurance, specifically ensuring minors are not required to "upload more data on themselves than is warranted by the risk." She also pointed to how the absence of legislation should not be an excuse for a company to get ahead on children's safety.
"It's important that companies don't wait for legislation. We want to keep kids safer online. We want to give them those positive, helpful and age-appropriate experiences," Charlet said. "It's so important to empower them to experience the digital world in a way that they can explore safely, but doesn't cut them off from important services. We need to be wrestling with this now."
Joe Duball is the news editor for the IAPP.
