House vote sets up Senate clash over kids' online safety

The House on Monday passed the KIDS Act, but key senators say the legislation has little chance of advancing in its current form.

Why it matters: The vote sets up a showdown over kids' online safety as the White House works to align Congress behind legislation that would preempt some state AI laws.

Driving the news: After garnering broad bipartisan support, House lawmakers fast-tracked a package of kids' online safety measures, including a version of the Kids Online Safety Act, and sent it to the Senate.

The bill passed in a 267-117 vote.

The House version of KOSA does not include "duty of care" language — which would require platforms to take reasonable steps to mitigate harms stemming from design features like endless scroll or algorithmic recommendations.

Proponents say the provision is key to holding tech companies accountable.

What they're saying: "We worked hard to reach a workable compromise," House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said Monday on the floor.

"While no single bill will solve every challenge facing families online, this legislation represents a significant and long-overdue step forward in establishing meaningful safeguards," he said.

Zoom in: The House package includes preemption language that critics say would make it more difficult to sue social media companies for design features.

If that language were law, it would have prevented landmark social media cases in California, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said during a call with reporters last week.

"Let me be clear. The Senate is not interested in having these cases preempted," she said.

"Preemption should not be a part of it, period," said KOSA co-sponsor Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

"The preemption language in the KIDS Act is written with the explicit intent of ensuring that states have the authority to pass and enforce stronger state laws, including those with a duty of care," House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said.

The big picture: The Trump administration and the tech industry have pushed Congress to pass legislation that would override some state AI laws. Any serious preemption effort would need to include measures protecting kids online to have a chance of advancing.

KOSA co-sponsor Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has been working with the White House on a deal tying kids' online safety measures to federal preemption of some state AI laws and has said any legislation needs to include duty of care language.

"Certainly we don't need to tie it to bad AI policy," Cantwell said.

Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been working with the House on kids' online safety bills.

"Nobody on the committee knows what Sen. Cruz is proposing. I don't think a Republican on the committee knows what he's going to propose," Cantwell said.

Cruz is expected to hold an AI legislative markup soon.

The bottom line: Congress has repeatedly failed to get KOSA signed into law. This time, sponsors worry that White House pressure may result in a weakened bill crossing the finish line.

"We need to prevent the White House from forming an alliance with big tech on this issue," Blumenthal said.