Tomorrow’s U.S. Senate Vote: Four Internet Bills, One Wrong Direction

The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote on four potentially problematic internet bills during the week: KOSA, the SCREEN Act, Youth AI Privacy Act, and CHATBOT Act. Although the committee is taking the time to examine each bill separately, the message Congress is sending to the world remains clear: censor the internet and limit young people's ability to express themselves and access lawful speech online.

Each of these bills purports to protect children and teenagers from harmful situations both online and offline, which is a commendable objective. However, the proposed measures in these bills are unlikely to enhance children's and teenagers' safety in any significant way. Instead, they would introduce extensive new privacy and data security issues, and compel platforms to impose unconstitutional restrictions on the content they host, affecting both adults and teenagers.

There exists a more effective alternative. Instead of evaluating these bills, the Senate Commerce Committee should concentrate on a nationwide consumer privacy act that would safeguard all internet users, or on prohibiting behavioral advertising that tracks our online activities—again, applicable to users of all ages. However, the bills currently under consideration are taking a different path—collecting more data, intensifying surveillance, and diminishing privacy for internet users of every age.