Elon Musk’s X partnered with US lawmakers behind the landmark Children’s Online Safety Act to ensure it didn’t infringe on free speech, CEO Linda Yaccarino revealed.
The strong signal of support from Yaccarino and Musk could give a big boost to the bipartisan cybersecurity bill — which passed the Senate on a 91-3 vote last July but has since stalled in the House because of concerns among some Republicans that it could enable censorship.
The Children’s Online Safety Act, or KOSA, would impose a legal “duty of care” to ensure that social media apps protect children from sexual abuse, drug addiction and dangerous stunts that could cause injury or death. even death. It is widely seen as the most important law governing Big Tech in decades.
“After working with the bill’s authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect free speech while maintaining safety for minors online,” Yaccarino wrote on X.
“We urge Congress and the House to pass the Children’s Online Safety Act this year,” she added.
Musk, who has emerged as a top donor and adviser to President-elect Trump, also signaled support for the bill in a response to Yaccarino’s post.
“Protecting children must always be the #1 priority,” Musk wrote.
Donald Trump Jr. gave another big boost on Sunday, writing that “we can protect free speech and our children at the same time from Big Tech.”
“It’s time for House Republicans to pass the Children’s Online Safety Act as soon as possible,” Trump Jr. said.
The approvals came at a critical time. Congress has just two weeks left to pass KOSA before its current session ends, and lawmakers have other pressing concerns during that limited period, including securing passage of a measure to fund the US government.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), key cosponsors of the Senate version of KOSA, rated X for weighing the bill’s language.
“These changes should eliminate once and for all the false narrative that this bill would be weaponized by unelected bureaucrats to censor Americans,” the senators said in a joint statement.
“We thank Elon and Linda for their courageous leadership and commitment to protecting children online and for helping us get this bill across the finish line this Congress,” they added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not scheduled a floor vote on the bill. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) has also expressed skepticism about the bill.
Critics have blasted Google, Meta and their Big Tech allies for funding what was described as a “divide and conquer” effort to kill KOSA in the House of Representatives, as The Post reported in September.
Big Tech advocates have tailored their message about KOSA depending on the constituency they’re trying to influence — telling House Republicans it can be used against conservative speech and telling Democrats it’s “anti-LGBTQ+” and can limit pro-choice speech. , sources said at the time.
Yaccarino had previously endorsed it while representing X at a high-profile Senate hearing on online safety for children last January.
X and Snapchat have notably broken ranks with most of the tech industry to support KOSA.
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