The following statement can be attributed to Sara Kloek, Vice President, Education and Children’s Policy, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) looks forward to working with Senators Cruz, Schatz, Murphy and Britt to protect the privacy and safety of kids online. It is our hope that any legislation sent to the President will include important provisions to protect the privacy and safety of kids online while preserving important First Amendment protections for all Americans.
We sent a letter about the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) last year in which we expressed concerns that the bill would be technologically infeasible and include content restrictions not only on children and teens but on Americans of all ages. We are reviewing the changes to the recently introduced bill and it appears some updates have been made to address our concerns about the impact on the schools. We remain concerned about the knowledge standard included in the bill and that the bill, despite stating it does not require age gating or age verification, will require companies to do just that – leading to restrictions on all Americans ability to access information online.
