December 18, 2024
When teenagers log into their social media accounts every day, they enter a digital world that keeps Congress and parents awake at night. Across America’s kitchen tables and in Capitol Hill offices, a fierce debate has been raging for several years: How do we protect teenagers from the harmful effects of social media without cutting them off from the digital connections that shape their world and without empowering governments at the expense of parents?
For lawmakers in Congress and state capitols, it’s a high-stakes balancing act. On one side, parents share haunting stories of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders and blame them on social media’s algorithms and beauty filters. On the other, millions of teenagers find community, creative expression, and even mental health support through these same platforms. Add in thorny First Amendment questions about free speech in the digital age and you have a puzzle that nobody seems able to solve.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), Congress’s flagship, multiyear attempt to tackle this crisis, reveals the pitfalls of striking such a balance. While aiming to protect teens, the legislation threatens to replace parents’ judgment with that of government bureaucrats, effectively creating a state-sponsored filter on expression. This heavy-handed approach raises serious First Amendment concerns and risks undermining parental rights that conservatives have consistently championed.
Thankfully, despite passage of KOSA by the U.S. Senate, and despite a public campaign in support of it, Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise have held the line and prevented the bill from reaching the House floor. Their opposition stems from concerns about potential First Amendment implications. Johnson argues that “there’s still some concern about the free speech components of that, and whether it might lead to further censorship by the government of valid, you know, conservative voices, for example.”
As online-safety legislation awaits the 119th Congress and President Trump’s return in 2025, lawmakers have an opportunity to fundamentally rethink their approach to protecting teenagers online. Rather than doubling down on KOSA’s flawed framework of government oversight, Congress would do well to follow Florida’s lead and empower parents as the primary guardians of their children’s digital lives. This parent-centered approach recognizes that families, not federal regulators, are best positioned to make nuanced decisions about their children’s online activities.
Florida blazed a trail for parent-centered digital protection in 2021 with House Bill 241, the landmark Parents’ Bill of Rights. This groundbreaking legislation established that “the state, its political subdivisions, any other governmental entity, or other institution may not infringe upon the fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of a minor child.” By enshrining these parental rights into state law, Florida created a foundation for addressing digital safety in a way that puts family decision-making first. It also clarified that parents, not government officials, were the primary regulators of their children’s activities in both the digital and the real world.
Florida doubled down on its parent-first approach in 2023 with House Bill 379, crafting a solution that educates rather than restricts. The legislation requires public schools to equip students with practical digital literacy skills and safe social media habits. Unlike KOSA’s heavy-handed restrictions, Florida’s approach preserved both parental authority and teenagers’ ability to express themselves and maintain meaningful connections on social media platforms. This educational strategy demonstrates that protecting teens online doesn’t require sacrificing either parental rights or digital freedoms.
Johnson and House leadership deserve credit for preventing KOSA’s government overreach from becoming law. But blocking speech suppression and government-empowering legislation isn’t enough — Congress needs a positive vision for protecting teens online while preserving constitutional freedoms. Florida’s two-pronged approach of empowering parents and educating teens offers the blueprint Washington needs. By following this model, Johnson and House Republicans can advance legislation that protects young people online while standing firm on conservative principles of parental rights, limited government, and free speech. The goal isn’t to hand control to bureaucrats or silence teenage voices but to give parents the tools they need to guide their children through an increasingly complex digital world.
