AG Coleman joins 30 states to urge Congress to pass internet protections for youth

Kentucky Health News

Attorney General Russell Coleman has joined 30 other states to call on Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act before the end of the year, to protect children from harm on the internet.

“There is nothing partisan about protecting our kids. This legislation would help create a safer online environment that reduces harm to kids and helps parents like me safeguard our children. As a father and as the attorney general, I hope our legislators can come to an agreement soon on this critical issue,” Coleman said in a news release.

In a letter addressed to U.S. House and U.S. Senate leaders, led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, the coalition of attorneys general emphasized the urgent need to address the growing crisis of youth mental health linked to social media use, with studies showing minors spend more than five hours daily online.

The attorneys general highlighted several key provisions of KOSA that would enhance online protections for minors:

• Mandatory default safety settings: Requiring platforms to automatically enable their strongest safety protections for minors rather than burying these features behind opt-in screens;
• Addiction prevention: Allowing young users and their parents to disable manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations that keep children endlessly scrolling;
• Parental empowerment: Providing parents with new tools to identify harmful behaviors and improved capabilities to report dangerous content.

The push for federal legislation is Coleman’s latest effort to protect Kentucky from social media platforms that target underage users.

Last month, Coleman filed a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging the Chinese social media platform engaged in predatory behavior to addict minors to its platform, leading to depression, anxiety, altered development, lack of sleep and more, in an effort to generate billions in revenue each year.

In addition to Coleman and Skrmetti, attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming signed the letter.