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Opinion: Kids online safety act doesn’t answer call to protect kids

Fostering a safe online environment for kids and teens should be a paramount concern for families, educators, and society at large. However the latest revamp of the Kids Online Safety Act still fails ...

However, adopting a negligence standard to be enforced by the FTC will almost certainly lead platforms to err on the side of caution - cutting off access to content and communities, removing legitimate speech, and sanitizing online information sources. These provisions threaten the delicate balance between regulation and freedom of expression by compelling online platforms to engage in content censorship affecting users of all ages to be policed by federal and state governments. It will lead the FTC and state attorneys general to implement restrictive, and possibly incompatible, content rules that fit subjective political goals - whether that’s excluding access to LGBTQ+ issues or to conservative journalism - all in the name of preventing “harm.”

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