KIDS 01 who supports who opposes
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Who Supports, Who Opposes
synthesized-reference . retrieved 2026-06-28
sources: ACLU, EFF, Fairplay, Common Sense Media, NetChoice/CCIA, state AG coalitions, press coverage
archived for offline mesh reading
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The coalitions don't map cleanly onto left/right — they map onto **parents/child-safety
groups vs. civil-liberties/tech**, with cross-cutting exceptions.
Supporters (pro-KOSA / KIDS Act)
- **Sponsors:** Sens. **Blumenthal (D-CT)** & **Blackburn (R-TN)** (KOSA); **Markey (D-MA)**
& **Cassidy (R-LA)** (COPPA 2.0); Senate leaders **Thune** & **Schumer** as cosponsors.
- **Parents & survivors:** families of children harmed by online challenges, exploitation,
or self-harm content — a powerful lobbying presence.
- **Child-safety & health groups:** **Fairplay**, **Common Sense Media**, the **American
Psychological Association**, the **American Academy of Pediatrics**, anti-CSAM
organizations.
- **Some platforms (situationally):** at various points Microsoft, Snap, X, and Pinterest
voiced support for KOSA — partly to shape a single federal standard over a 50-state
patchwork.
- **Most of the public / bipartisan majorities:** the *goal* polls extremely well, which is
why votes like 91–3 (Senate 2024) and 267–117 (House 2026) happen.
Opponents (or "fix it first")
- **Civil-liberties groups:** **ACLU**, **EFF**, **Fight for the Future**, the **Stop KOSA**
coalition, **Center for Democracy & Technology** — First Amendment, age-verification
privacy, and LGBTQ-censorship concerns.
- **LGBTQ & reproductive-rights advocates:** fear enforcement weaponized against their
content.
- **Tech-industry trade groups:** **NetChoice** and **CCIA** — the primary litigators
against both federal and state versions (compelled speech, privacy, interstate commerce).
- **Some state Attorneys General (bipartisan):** oppose the **KIDS Act's preemption** for
**curtailing their own enforcement authority** — a notable case of child-safety hawks
opposing a child-safety bill.
- **Youth & student groups:** the ACLU has organized students arguing the law restricts
*their own* access to information.
The cross-cutting tensions
- **Left vs. left:** Democratic child-safety champions vs. Democratic civil-libertarians
and LGBTQ advocates.
- **Right vs. right:** Republican "protect kids / rein in Big Tech" vs. Republican
free-speech/small-government and anti-mandate factions.
- **Feds vs. states:** federal sponsors want one preemptive standard; state AGs want to
keep (often stronger) state powers.
- **Safety vs. privacy:** you generally cannot "know the user is a minor" without
collecting more identity data on *everyone* — the coalition's hardest internal knot.
*For the substance of each argument, see [[00-key-debates-and-controversies]].*
Sources
- ACLU & EFF press releases and analyses (2024–2026)
- Fairplay for Kids; Common Sense Media public statements
- Regulatory Oversight (2026-05) — bipartisan AG opposition to KIDS Act preemption
- NBC News, Tech Policy Press — coalition reactions to House passage
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