Did KOSA pass?
KOSA has passed one chamber in each of the last two Congresses, but never both. In the 118th Congress the Senate passed a package combining KOSA with children's privacy legislation, 91 to 3, on July 30, 2024, but the package did not become law before that Congress ended. In the 119th Congress the order reversed: the House passed its version first.
The House vote on H.R. 7757
Rep. Brett Guthrie, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, or KIDS Act, on March 3, 2026. It bundles more than a dozen bills, including a "Kids Online Safety" subtitle drawn from the House KOSA bill, H.R. 6484, according to the Congressional Research Service. The House passed it under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority, on June 29, 2026. The vote on Roll Call 228 was 267 to 117: Republicans 162 to 32, Democrats 104 to 85, with one independent voting yes and 47 members not voting.
Some reports give July 7, 2026 as the House passage date. The House Clerk's roll call and the Congress.gov action history both record the vote on June 29, 2026, and that is the date used here.
Senate status of S. 1748
Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced S. 1748 on May 14, 2025. It now has 76 cosponsors, including Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to Congress.gov. On August 5, 2026, the Commerce Committee approved it by voice vote with a Blackburn substitute amendment, alongside the CHATBOT Act and two other children's AI bills, according to the committee's release. The bill is awaiting a Senate floor vote. Separately, H.R. 7757 was received in the Senate and referred to the Commerce Committee on July 13, 2026, where it has not been acted on.
For either version to become law, both chambers must pass identical text. As of November 9, 2026, the chambers are working from two different bills.
What is KOSA?
KOSA is a set of design and safety rules for online platforms used by minors. Versions have been introduced since the 117th Congress. The Senate bill, as summarized by the Congressional Research Service on Congress.gov, applies to online platforms, video games, messaging apps and video streaming services used or likely to be used by people under 17.
The core of S. 1748 is a duty of care: covered platforms must exercise reasonable care in designing and operating features that increase minors' activity, to prevent and mitigate harms such as mental health disorders and severe harassment. It also requires default safeguards for minors, parental tools, a reporting channel for harms, limits on market research involving children, and an option to switch away from personalized recommendation algorithms.
The House version is narrower. Its "Kids Online Safety" subtitle requires platforms to adopt reasonable policies addressing four categories of harm: severe threats of violence; sexual exploitation and abuse; drugs, tobacco, cannabis, gambling and alcohol; and financial harm from deceptive practices. It states expressly that it does not impose a duty of care. The CRS comparison identifies the missing duty of care as the main difference between the two texts. The House subtitle also requires safeguards for known minors (limits on who can message them, recommendation controls, location sharing limits), parental tools, teen messaging controls, a reporting mechanism with a 10-day response time, and annual independent audits.
The AI chatbot disclosure rule in the KIDS Act
Title IV of the House-passed KIDS Act is the SAFE BOTs Act. It applies to a "chatbot provider," meaning a business offering a chatbot directly to consumers, but not to sites where chat is incidental to some other purpose. Its duties run to "covered users": minors whom the provider knows, or should have known, are minors. The text is in the engrossed bill.
- No false professional claims. A chatbot may not tell a known minor that it is a licensed professional unless that is true.
- AI disclosure. The provider must clearly disclose that the chatbot is an AI system and not a person, at the start of a minor's first interaction and whenever the minor asks whether it is AI.
- Crisis resources. When a minor raises suicide or suicidal ideation, the provider must disclose suicide and crisis hotline resources.
- Break reminders and policies. Providers must have reasonable policies to suggest a break after three hours of continuous use, and to address sexual exploitation and the promotion of gambling, drugs, tobacco or alcohol to minors.
The chatbot title is lighter than the Senate's separate chatbot bills. The GUARD Act, for example, would bar minors from AI companions entirely and require age verification. The KIDS Act does not require age verification for chatbots.
Who KOSA would apply to and how it would be enforced
Both versions rely on the Federal Trade Commission. Under section 701 of the House bill, a violation is treated as a violation of an FTC trade regulation rule on unfair or deceptive practices, and state attorneys general may sue in federal court on behalf of residents for injunctions, damages and restitution. The Senate bill likewise provides for enforcement by the FTC and the states, per its CRS summary. Neither text gives individuals a private right to sue.
On preemption, the House bill (section 704 of the engrossed text) displaces state law only where it conflicts with the Act, and preserves state contract, tort and product liability law and any state law that gives minors greater protection. Most House provisions would take effect one year after enactment.
Coverage turns on definitions that differ between the bills. The House "Kids Online Safety" subtitle defines covered platforms around user-generated content, searchable and followable user profiles, and personalized recommendations or advertising, as described by CRS. The Senate bill reaches a broader list of services, including video games, messaging and streaming.
KOSA criticism
The sharpest criticism of the House package has come from KOSA's own supporters. On Roll Call 228, 85 Democrats and 32 Republicans voted no. Two days later, Senate sponsors Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn called the House bill "stripped down legislation" and said removing the duty of care would leave the status quo in place, as The National News Desk reported. Common Sense Media called the bill a disappointment, and a coalition of more than 90 groups wrote to House leaders objecting to it. Their objections, per the same report: no duty of care, narrower protections against compulsive use, the omission of video games, messaging apps and streaming services from the KOSA subtitle, and chatbot provisions they considered too weak.
Speaker Mike Johnson, by contrast, described the bill as a major step that protects children while protecting free speech. The CRS In Focus on the two texts sets out the choices Congress still has to make, chiefly the duty of care and how broadly to define covered platforms. Reconciling the House package with S. 1748 is the main obstacle to enactment, and the Senate Commerce Committee chose to advance S. 1748 rather than take up the House bill, according to the committee's August 5 release.
KOSA is not law, so social media, gaming, messaging and streaming services used by minors face no new KOSA duties yet. The House passed its KIDS Act package, which carries a version of KOSA and an AI chatbot disclosure rule, 267 to 117 on June 29, 2026, but the Senate has not voted on it. The Senate's own bill, S. 1748, cleared the Commerce Committee on August 5, 2026 and still awaits a floor vote.
What changed
- 2026-08-05: Senate Commerce Committee orders S. 1748 reported with a Blackburn substitute, by voice vote.
- 2026-07-13: H.R. 7757 received in the Senate and referred to the Commerce Committee.
- 2026-06-29: House passes the KIDS Act, H.R. 7757, 267 to 117 (Roll Call 228).
- 2026-03-03: Rep. Guthrie introduces the KIDS Act, H.R. 7757.
- 2025-12-11: House Energy and Commerce subcommittee forwards H.R. 6484, the House KOSA bill, 13 to 10.
- 2025-05-14: Sen. Blackburn introduces S. 1748 in the 119th Congress.
Frequently asked questions
Did KOSA pass?
Not into law. The House passed a version of KOSA as part of the KIDS Act, H.R. 7757, on June 29, 2026, by 267 to 117. The Senate has not passed that bill or its own KOSA, S. 1748, which cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on August 5, 2026. Both chambers must pass the same text.
Is the KOSA bill getting passed in the Senate?
S. 1748 has cleared committee and has 76 cosponsors, but as of November 9, 2026 no Senate floor vote has been scheduled or held. The Senate passed an earlier version 91 to 3 in July 2024, so support exists; the open question is whether the Senate and House can agree on one text.
What is KOSA?
The Kids Online Safety Act is a bill setting design and safety rules for platforms used by minors: default protections, parental tools, harm reporting channels and, in the Senate version, a duty of reasonable care to prevent specified harms. The FTC and state attorneys general would enforce it.
What does the KIDS Act require of AI chatbots?
Its SAFE BOTs title would require chatbot providers to tell known minors they are talking to an AI, not a person, to give crisis hotline information when suicide comes up, to suggest a break after three hours, and to bar chatbots from falsely claiming to be licensed professionals.
Who would enforce KOSA?
The Federal Trade Commission, treating violations as unfair or deceptive practices, and state attorneys general, who could sue in federal court on behalf of residents. Neither the House nor the Senate version creates a private right for individuals to sue.
Sources
- Congress.gov: H.R. 7757, KIDS Act
- Congress.gov: S. 1748, Kids Online Safety Act
- House Clerk: Roll Call 228, June 29, 2026
- Senate Commerce Committee: Commerce Committee Advances Kids Online Safety Legislation (August 5, 2026)
- Congressional Research Service: Kids Online Safety Act, IF12730 (August 24, 2026)
- H.R. 7757, engrossed in House (GovInfo)
- The National News Desk: Youth safety advocates say House online safety bill falls short (July 1, 2026)
- Senate roll call vote 221, 118th Congress (July 30, 2024)
This page is journalism and commentary, not legal advice. AI law changes quickly; check the primary sources above and consult qualified counsel for your situation.