Accountable Tech Co-Founder and Executive Director Nicole Gill issued the following statement on the Senate’s passage of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA), a package bill that includes the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teen Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0):

“The Senate passage of KOSA and COPPA 2.0 is a long overdue step toward ensuring the online safety and privacy of children and young people who, for decades, have been exploited and monetized by Big Tech without consequence. Today’s near unanimous, bipartisan vote has shown that advocates for accountability – including the many young people and parents who spent years on Capitol Hill sharing their experiences of harm at the hands of Big Tech – are more powerful than the biggest companies in the world and their industry lobbyists.

“We applaud Senators Blumenthal, Blackburn, and Markey, and Leader Schumer for championing kids’ online safety and prioritizing our kids’ wellbeing over Big Tech’s pursuit of profit. This is a major turning point in our movement’s efforts to take on tech’s outsized influence on the lives of young people. We now look to the House of Representatives to bring this bill to a vote so that we can finally regulate an industry that has used its power and wealth to protect its own interests over the public good for far too long.”

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Accountable Tech is a non-profit organization advocating for digital justice by reining in Big Tech’s threats to society and democracy with legislative, regulatory, and structural solutions. Through strategic initiatives and creative campaigns, Accountable Tech is challenging the industry’s toxic business model in order to protect data privacy, preserve the health of democracy, and create safer online platforms. We are leading the movement to advance a better, more human-centered digital future, and tech for the common good. To learn more, visit accountabletech.org.