Colorado state Rep. Junie Joseph’s August 20 opinion piece, “Rethink the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA),” is based on a false premise: that “KOSA aims to impose a ‘duty of care’ on social media companies to regulate content deemed ‘harmful to minors.’” I don’t believe Rep. Joseph intentionally misrepresented the bill, but the lives of millions of American children depend on our leadership knowing the facts and supporting the legislation.

KOSA does not call for or encourage social media companies to regulate third-party content. The bill’s “duty of care” provision explicitly mandates platforms prevent online harms like cyberbullying, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and suicide, not prevent a minor from searching for specific content.

Crucially, KOSA protects children’s ability to access potentially lifesaving resources, including those Rep. Joseph wrongly speculates could be legally denied to the LGBTQ+ community should the legislation be enacted into law. Though I appreciate Rep. Joseph’s concern, I must implore her to reexamine what KOSA sets out to do.

In 2024, KOSA’s authors worked with myriad LGBTQ+ organizations — including the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, PFLAG and others — to resolve similar fears surrounding censorship. And in February, after an extensive round of edits to the bill, in a joint letter to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, these groups collectively withdrew their opposition.

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The fight for KOSA is personal for me. In 2020, I lost my daughter Annalee, 18, to suicide after social media accounts and algorithms exacerbated her mental health issues. I firmly believe had KOSA been law, my daughter would still be here today.

Annalee was a beautiful, quiet, gentle-hearted girl. She journaled about her depression and anxiety, her addiction to social media, and about her distress after viewing a “live suicide” that appeared, unsolicited, on her “For You” page on TikTok.

Put simply, KOSA would require Big Tech companies to rein in their exploitative design and data collection practices. Gleaning such data to maximize profit margins by maximizing engagement has become standard practice, targeting young people by delivering whatever the algorithms deduce will make it hardest for them to look away, no matter the consequence.

Multiple whistleblowers have proven social media companies know how dangerous their products can be. Yet, rather than work toward solutions, Big Tech is fighting tooth and nail to maintain business as usual. So far this year, Meta and ByteDance (owner of TikTok) have together spent an average of almost $220,000 on lobbying efforts each day Congress was in session.

Last year the Surgeon General issued an advisory warning about the effects of social media use on young people’s mental health. This year, he called for a Surgeon General’s Warning label on social media platforms. Yet, it’s been more than 25 years since the last major piece of legislation was passed to regulate social media and, in that time, the online universe has completely changed.

The bottom line is KOSA safeguards children’s ability to search for the content they want and need while reining in Big Tech’s predatory business model. More specifically, it dictates, to prevent and mitigate specified harms, social media companies must “exercise reasonable care in the creation and implementation of any design feature,” which means “any feature or component of a covered platform that will encourage or increase the frequency, time spent, or activity of minors on the covered platform.”

At the end of July, the U.S. Senate passed KOSA with a historic 91-to-3 vote. It was an overwhelming display of bipartisan unity on a solution to one of the great social challenges of our time.

Finally, our nation’s lawmakers said the status quo — one in which Big Tech’s billion dollar-plus bottom line has long taken precedence over children’s health and well-being — is no longer acceptable. They held social media platforms accountable for the harms their products cause America’s youth.

When the final vote was called, I celebrated. Though KOSA can’t bring my daughter back, it can prevent other parents from enduring the insurmountable pain of losing a child.

Now our representatives in the House must follow the Senate’s lead and pass KOSA, too, finally making it into law. There is no time to lose. We must build on the momentum the Senate passage has generated and take action on this wildly popular legislation the majority of American families want and desperately need.

Lori Schott is currently advocating for social media reform to protect children online at the state and national level. Lori, along with her husband Avery live in northeastern Colorado where they farm and own a small business.