It never ceases to amaze me that the American people will petition the federal government to do what they should be doing themselves. The latest example comes in the form of “Kids Online Safety Act” – HR 7891 in the House and S 1409 in the Senate. According to these bills, the purpose is “to protect the safety of children on the internet”.

According to Breitbart News, Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk have called for Congress to pass the act. Remember, Elon Musk is the individual who wants to place a chip in everyone’s brain in order to connect people to the “internet of things”. Musk stated, “Protecting kids should always be priority #1.”

Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk over the weekend called on Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

“We can protect free speech and our kids at the same time from Big Tech. It’s time for House Republicans to pass the Kids Online Safety Act ASAP,” Trump Jr. wrote on Sunday. 

Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, said that she and the company are urging for the passage of KOSA after the bill text had been updated to address some concerns:

At X, protecting our children is our top priority. As I’ve always said, freedom of speech and safety can and must coexist. And as a mother, it’s personal. When X testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last January, we committed to working with Congress on child safety legislation. We’ve heard the pleas of parents and youth advocates who seek sensible guardrails across online platforms, and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) addresses that need. After working with the bill authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of speech while maintaining safety for minors online. Thank you to @MarshaBlackburn and @SenBlumenthal for your leadership, dedication and collaboration on this issue and landmark legislation. We urge Congress and the House to pass the Kids Online Safety Act this year.

Isn’t it the job of parents to protect their children? Yes, it is. When it comes to the internet, social media, and the use of technological devices, parents have to take the initiative to make sure they keep their children safe. But, everywhere you go you see children at very young ages using cellphones. And, some parents provide their children with cellphones for very specific purposes, such as safety, without exposing their children to inappropriate content. It is up to the parents to exercise parental controls on devices if they choose to give them to their children, as well as monitor their child when they are using the devices. It would be preferable for children to not have these devices if parents are connecting the devices to the internet, fail to use parental controls, and fail to monitor what their children access using the devices.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has led the led the push to pass the legislation.

The Kids Online Safety Act aims to empower parents to take control over children’s online experiences to protect their health and well-being, and the Open App Markets Act, a bill that would break up the Apple and Google app store duopoly.

The Kids Online Safety Act passed in the Senate with an overwhelming 91-3 vote, and now advocates hope to get it through the House.

Reading the bill does not seem to give “parents control”. Instead, the onus is on the online platform or online video game to determine whether a child is a minor (under the age of 17) and limit access to the content. To do this, these online platforms and online video games would need to collect personally identifiable information on everyone accessing these platforms and games. It is a legislative set-up in conjunction with Big Tech to implement digital ID, which can then lead to social credit scores.

It faces an uncertain fate, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) oppose the bill, as currently written.

On Tuesday, advocates plan to hold a rally on Tuesday to have it pass through Congress’s lower chamber. This includes:

• Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12)
• Matthew Allaire, Design It For Us Advocate
• Tracy Ann Bancroft, Parent Advocate, Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action
• Shamail Henderson, Victim/Survivor of Online Sex Trafficking
• Vanessa Li, Policy Officer for the American Youth Association and Design It For Us Advocate
• Cheryl McCormick Brown, Mother of Mckenna Brown, Forever 16
• Erin Popolo, Mother of Emily Murillo, Forever 17
• Shama Reed, Mother of Shamail Henderson
• Mary Rodee, Mother of Riley Basford, Forever 15

Blackburn told Breitbart News Daily in 2023 that the legislation would “disable some of these tracking features that push addictive products and behavior. And also it requires the social media platforms to be transparent with their algorithmic black boxes, to open these up.”

Many parents have been quick to use “devices” as babysitters. Television is a good example. With the invention of cell phones, iPods, iPads, computers, and such, parents have more devices with which to use to occupy their children, but it means parent monitoring of the child’s activity has to be increased. Schools have implemented computers for student use in the classroom and students frequently have to use computers with internet access at home for homework. This can potentially expose children to inappropriate content. Teachers cannot always monitor the computer use of every child during class.

Like everything else, technology and the internet are tools. Children using tools should be monitored closely. Not one parent would give a child a knife without determining if they are old enough to use it, teaching them how to use it, the purpose of the knife, using it only for its intended purpose, and monitoring them while using it. Once the child is finished using the knife, the parent should retrieve the knife. It’s the same with internet content and use of technological devices.

Most importantly, these bills, should they pass, widen the door for censorship; lead to widespread surveillance and increased data collection; use vague terms of harm that could lead to suppression of legitimate educational and supportive resources; weed out smaller competitors of Big Tech giants due to the inability to meet established guidelines; would stifle creativity and open dialogue; erode parents’ rights; eradicate privacy when accessing internet content through disruption of VPNs (virtual private networks); provide an avenue for government to control information flow; and ultimately control the internet. All under the guise of protecting children.

This bill will target everyone. You will have to prove somehow that you are an adult and can access the content.

Let’s be truthful here. If a child or teenager wants to get around the rules, they usually find a way. Laws have been passed to prevent underage smoking, drinking, and driving. Yet, teens find a way to do all those things. If parents do not exact justice upon their children for violating the rules, the children will not learn there are consequences for their actions.

The answer is not more government intrusion into parenting. The answer is more parenting. It is not government nor big tech’s job to protect children; it is the parent’s job.

Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media