LGBTQ Agenda: Bipartisan social media bill reintroduced, but whether free speech concerns are addressed is unclear – Bay Area Reporter

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Excerpt:

Republican and Democratic Senate leaders applauded the recent reintroduction of an internet regulation bill. The legislation had previously faced opposition from a smorgasbord of LGBTQ, free speech, and conservative voices and it’s unclear whether their concerns are addressed in the new bill.

The Kids Online Safety Act passed the United States Senate last year in a 91-3 vote. It had support that ran the gamut from then-President Joe Biden to Tesla and X chief and Donald Trump megadonor Elon Musk. But the House of Representatives never voted on it, and it had to be reintroduced in the new 119th Congress.

It was reintroduced in the Senate on May 14 by its authors U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), with support from Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).

According to a bill summary authored by the Library of Congress, the legislation would require “applications or services that connect to the internet and are likely to be used by minors” to “act in the best interest of a minor using its application or service. This includes a duty to prevent and mitigate heightened risks of harms that may arise from using the platform.”