Britt Joins Cassidy, Markey to Update, Expand Kid’s Online Protections

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) has joined Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) to support their recently introduced the Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) to update online data privacy rules and expand protections for children and teens online. The Act enjoys wide bipartisan support and has been widely endorsed by numerous privacy, pro-family and pro-children’s groups.

Senators Cassidy and Marky introduced the bill on May 4th, with Senator Britt announcing her support on May 18th.

“Keeping American families safe includes keeping our kids safe on the internet. Our country is in the throes of a mental health crisis, and the rise of social media usage among children and teenagers is inextricably tied to this problem,” said Senator Britt. “Putting in place updated, commonsense guardrails to protect kids from the dangers of social media and protect their privacy is a first step to stop our worsening mental health crisis.”

Specifically, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act would:

• Ban targeted advertising to children and teens;
• Create an “Eraser Button” by requiring companies to permit users to delete personal information collected from a child or teen;
• Establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens’ data;
• Revise COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard to close the loophole that allows platforms to ignore kids and teens on their site; and
• Build on COPPA by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent.

“Every kid has an iPad or smartphone. They’re going to use the internet. Parents should be confident they can do it safely,” said Dr. Cassidy. “COPPA 2.0 is the tool that will give parents the peace of mind they need and keep their children’s personal information secure.”

“We need strong modern legislation that keeps pace with the ever-evolving digital landscape and creates a safer online environment by addressing the youth mental health crisis and protecting the personal information of our kids,” said Senator Markey. “Congress must finally pass my Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act to extend these protections to teenagers, block targeted advertising to kids and teens, and give parents of young people an eraser button to protect them from predatory data collection practices.”

COPPA 2.0 was added to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) in 2024. The combined bill, known as KOSPA, passed the Senate handily by a vote of 91-3. The bill was much less warmly received in the House, with the 118th Congress being adjourned without taking action on KOSPA.

Recently, Senator Britt spoke on the floor highlighting decades of congressional inaction saying,“While social media companies have taken some steps, it is clear that there is work for Congress to do. The last time a United States president signed a major piece of legislation addressing children and the internet was, wait for it, 1998. Almost 30 years ago, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act was signed into law. For reference, at that time that the law was signed, MySpace didn’t even exist. It’s time for an update and there is a clear place to start.”

As a mom of school-aged kids, Senator Britt has made addressing America’s youth mental health crisis a key policy focus over the past two years. In addition to introducing multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation protecting children and teens on social media, she has voted in support of other bills to empower parents and hold platforms accountable and joined her colleagues in repeatedly calling for action to discuss the harmful impacts of social media. 

A more in-depth analysis of COPPA 2.0 can be found at LEXOLOGY.com.