[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING H.R. 7757, THE KIDS INTERNET AND DIGITAL SAFETY (KIDS) ACT

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                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 13, 2026

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7757, the 
Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, the first step towards 
delivering long-overdue privacy protections for children and teens 
online.
  Social media companies use mass data collection and algorithms to 
drive adults, teens, and children towards harmful content, 
misinformation, and targeted ads that line the profits of Big Tech 
companies. H.R. 7757, the KIDS Act, would safeguard minors from these 
harmful practices.
  The KIDS Act is a package of 14 online safety bills, including 
revised provisions from the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and 
Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, that would require social media 
companies to protect the personal data of our children and teens and 
prevent the promotion of harmful content like eating disorders and 
suicide. Specifically, the KIDS Act will mandate safeguards, parental 
tools, and policies to keep kids safe when using social media, video 
games, chatbots, and more. These safeguards will limit addictive design 
features, restrict sharing the geolocation of minors, limit adult users 
from communicating with minors, restrict personalized recommendation 
systems, and more.
  I have had real concerns with provisions in the Kids Online Safety 
Act (KOSA) that could harm members of my community. The version of KOSA 
that was included in the KIDS Act includes a major change that removes 
the ``duty of care'' provision. This provision could have been 
weaponized by President Trump's politically motivated Federal Trade 
Commission (FTC), which has already made it its mission to attack 
gender-affirming care every chance it gets. Removing that provision 
from the final bill will safeguard against politically motivated 
censorship online.
  Additionally, I have heard from constituents expressing their 
concerns with online age verification that could be required by the 
KIDS Act. I agree with those I have heard from; if age verification is 
required across all online platforms, it could create additional 
privacy concerns for our children and teens. However, the only age 
verification requirement that is mandated by the KIDS Act is for 
pornographic websites. For these websites, the bill does not require 
government identification to verify age. The bill also contains 
provisions to ensure data collected or used for age verification on 
pornographic websites complies with strict data minimization and 
security measures.

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