Senate passes bipartisan online child safety bills

A bipartisan child online safety bills passed on Tuesday in the Senate 91-3.

According to the office of Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., one of the lead sponsors of the Kids Online Safety Act, the legislation is aimed at holding "Big Tech accountable for harms to kids and provide transparency into black box algorithms."

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) "bans online companies from collecting personal information from users between 13 and 16 years old without their consent," according to the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a sponsor of the bill.

The bill also "bans targeted advertising to children and teens and creates an eraser button for parents and kids to eliminate personal information online" and "establishes a Youth Marketing and Privacy Division at the FTC."

The legislation cleared a hurdle last week in a 86-1 vote, which moved it closer to final passage in the Senate.

Blackburn has called on the House to pass the legislation.

“We have broad bipartisan support in the House. I’ve talked with a lot of former House colleagues, and they are ready to move forward on this. They want a vote on the floor, so we’re encouraged by that and by support from leadership to move this forward,” she said in a statement. 

Both bills had the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.