Guest Post: Comparing Requirements for Schools Under E-Rate & KOSMA
May 06, 2024
This blog post is cross posted from the Public Interest Privacy Center.
The Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA), introduced on May 1, is a bipartisan bill that combines Senator Schatz’s Protecting Kids on Social Media Act and Senator Cruz’s Eyes on the Board Act. According to the press release, KOSMA aims to:
- “Prohibit children under the age of 13 from creating or maintaining social media accounts, consistent with the current stated policies of major social media companies;
- Prohibit social media companies from pushing targeted content using algorithms to users under the age of 17;
- Provide the FTC and state attorneys general authority to enforce the provisions of the bill; and
- Follow existing Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) framework to require schools to block and filter social media on federally funded networks and devices.”
As we are researching the bill, we are looking into what Title II of KOSMA (which incorporates the Eyes on the Board Act of 2024) could mean for schools. In particular, the following FAQ on Senator Schatz’s KOSMA webpage caught our attention:
“How does this bill block social media on school networks?
The bill tracks existing requirements in the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) that requires schools to block or filter internet access to obscene content on school networks and takes the same approach to require schools to block or filter internet access to social media platforms.”
To help identify the alignment between KOSMA and CIPA's existing requirements, we made a table comparing their requirements for schools. While we are still analyzing the potential impacts of KOSMA’s requirements for schools that receive E-Rate funding, we wanted to share our comparison table to assist others in tracking potential changes in legislative language.
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