Survivor Parents Heartbroken Over House Leadership’s Decision Not to Include KOSA in End-of-Year Package
As parents whose children lost their lives to online harms, we are extremely disappointed and heartbroken that Speaker Mike Johnson and House leadership continue to ignore our pleas and those of American families across this country. It is, frankly, unconscionable that the Speaker refused to act while children continue to die.
Survivor Parents’ Plea to First Lady Melania Trump Asking for Support to Protect Kids Online
ParentsSOS, an educational initiative formed by bereaved families to combat online harms, sent a letter to First Lady Melania Trump asking for help to move the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) before the end of the year.
Survivor Parents Call for Immediate Passage of KOSA at Capitol Rally
ParentsSOS, the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action, Fairplay, Accountable Tech, Design It For Us, Issue One, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, and ParentsTogether Action hosted the event amid an outpouring of support from prominent voices in the incoming Trump administration.
Parents & Local Leaders Call on Speaker Johnson and Rep. Scalise to Pass KOSA
ParentsSOS members joined fellow advocates for a press conference to call on Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to advance the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
ParentsSOS Statement on Meta Announcing “Teen Accounts” Feature on Instagram
“Default private accounts for minors and turning off notifications in the middle of the night are safeguards Meta should have implemented years ago. We hope lawmakers will not be fooled by this attempt to forestall legislation. The Kids Online Safety Act will require companies like Meta to ensure their platforms are safe and privacy-protective for young people at all times, not just when it’s politically expedient.”
Survivor Parents to House Leadership: #PassKOSA
“The House now has an opportunity to advance this critical legislation, which has immense public support from across the political spectrum.”
ParentsSOS Applauds Historic U.S. Senate Passage of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act
"Today’s Senate vote marks a historic and emotional milestone for myself and for all parents who have fought tirelessly to protect our children from the dangerous environments created by Big Tech.”
ParentsSOS Applauds U.S. Senate Advancing KOSPA to Final Vote
“With majority bipartisan support behind the bill, I urge every senator to support KOSPA in next week’s final vote and I urge their colleagues in the House to follow suit and pass its counterpart bill. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This legislation would have saved my child’s life. It’s time to ensure that no other family has to bear the pain of burying their child.”
Washington Leaders Demand Federal Protections for Kids Online
Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn for a press conference hosted by the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action, along with other advocates, to emphasize the critical need for the U.S. Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 before the August recess.
ParentsSOS Blasts Cancellation of Full Committee Markup of KOSA
“We are heartbroken that the markup of KOSA, which has broad bipartisan support, was canceled at the last minute due to issues with APRA. Our children’s safety should not be sidelined by unrelated legislative hurdles.”
ParentsSOS Statement in Advance of Full House Committee Markup of KOSA
“We need leaders who are willing to act boldly and implement changes that will truly safeguard our kids' well-being. This markup takes place during Internet Safety Month, highlighting the need for tangible action on online safety. The time for half-measures is over; we need decisive action now.”
ParentsSOS Issue Letter to Sen. Rand Paul Regarding the Kids Online Safety Act
We are fighting for KOSA because we have had “the guts” to read this legislation — as have the bill’s 68 Senate cosponsors — and we know what it will do: It will save children’s lives. If KOSA had been law when our children were alive, they would still be with us today. We do not want another family to go through what we have.
Letter to Sen. Schumer: Bring KOSA to the Senate Floor
Senator Schumer, don’t let what happened to our children happen to anyone else. Now is the moment to act. We beg you, please keep your promise and bring this legislation up for a vote.
Dear Congress: Stop playing politics and #PassKOSA
We must get KOSA over the finish line before Congress goes out on August recess and before the likelihood of any new bill becoming law before the November election slips dangerously out of reach. Every day without KOSA enacted into law is another day that lawmakers are allowing Big Tech profits to matter more than children’s lives. But they don’t and they never will.
ParentsSOS Statement on Successful Markup of KOSA in House IDC Subcommittee
“This is an important victory for those of us who are fighting every day to ensure no family goes through what we have, but there’s still work to be done. We urge Chair Rodgers to hold a full committee markup when the House is back in session in June.”
ParentsSOS Statement in Advance of Pivotal IDC Subcommittee Markup on KOSA
"As the IDC Subcommittee prepares to mark up KOSA, it is imperative that lawmakers recognize the urgency to address the mental health crisis exacerbated by online platforms,” said Maurine Molak, Co-Founder of ParentsSOS.
Response: The Truth About KOSA
We vetted the people our children met online; we kept our computers in common areas in our homes; we required they “friend” us on their social media accounts so we could follow their posts; we talked to them about the dangers lurking on and off their screens. Our children still died.
ParentsSOS Return to Capitol Hill To Demand Congressional Action on Kids' Online Safety
ParentsSOS Return to Capitol Hill To Demand Congressional Action on Kids' Online Safety
Letter to House Energy & Commerce Committee on KOSA
Letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee from survivor parents of ParentsSOS who have lost a child to online harms.
ParentsSOS Welcomes Introduction of House Companion Bill to Kids Online Safety Act
"We are deeply appreciative of the bipartisan support that the Kids Online Safety Act has received and grateful to Representatives Castor and Bilirakis for their leadership. We look forward to educating lawmakers in the House about how KOSA is essential to stopping the preventable tragedies that far too many young people experience online.”