OPINION:
As a former specialized police investigator and a former prosecutor, we have spent decades tracking down child predators, confronting structural exploitation and fighting for justice in courtrooms.
We know precisely how bad actors operate and we recognize the anatomy of an institutional cover-up.
What is currently transpiring in Washington represents a dangerous new low in political theater — and it has great implications for America’s children.
Under pressure from a national coalition of child safety advocates and state attorneys general, the Senate Commerce Committee advanced critical online child protection legislation including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
Yet lawmakers continue to push forward watered-down proposals like the KIDS Act (H.R. 7757), Parents Over Platforms Act (S.4349), Digital Age Assurance Act and similar copycat bills.
Do not be deceived by sanitized titles or grand political promises. These bills fail to deliver what the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA) promised and they fail to enforce the fundamental safeguards outlined in KOSA.
A cold, hard analysis of the facts reveals why: These bills are heavily influenced by Big Tech companies desperate to avoid genuine accountability, protect their multi-billion-dollar profit margins and preserve an unregulated digital wild west.
To understand why Silicon Valley works tirelessly to influence federal legislation, look directly at the evidence on Capitol Hill. Recent lobbying disclosures reveal that 11 of the largest tech companies spent $41.8 million over just six months, averaging over $230,000 every day, deploying more than 320 lobbyists to influence lawmakers. Meta alone spent roughly $66,000 a day to protect its business model.
This unprecedented spending deluge is not a sign of strength. It is a sign of outright panic and desperation. Tech giants know that parents, law enforcement and state leaders across the nation are waking up to the reality that platform architecture — including addictive algorithms, unverified adult access and unmonitored messaging systems — is directly driving a youth mental health and safety crisis.
To halt this crisis, any meaningful federal law must establish an enforceable, non-negotiable duty of care that legally obligates tech platforms to design products that are inherently safe for minors by default.
Yet tech-penned compromises explicitly disavow or obliterate this standard, replacing strict legal duties with vague “reasonable practices” tied to corporate “technical feasibility.” Congress must reject these hollow substitutes.
While Washington debates federal standards, true, battle-tested progress has already been achieved at the state level through the ASAA. Detractors desperate to protect tech profits have tried to label ASAA a “Meta bill” or a corporate deflection strategy, but the evidentiary record proves that narrative entirely false.
ASAA enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support, having passed with 96% support in the Utah Senate, 97% in the Texas Senate, 95% in the Utah House and 93% in the Texas House. It is endorsed by 27 state attorneys general, law enforcement leaders and child advocates from every political background.
ASAA targets the true gatekeepers of the digital ecosystem: the app stores. For years, app stores have operated with absolute immunity, binding minors into terms-of-service agreements they cannot legally understand and exposing them to location tracking, data harvesting and harmful content.
When a child downloads a “free” app, they pay with their privacy and safety. ASAA restores parental authority by requiring verified age gatekeeping, explicit parental consent before downloads or in-app purchases occur and strict truth-in-advertising standards for age ratings.
The constitutional power of this law was validated when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Texas’ ASAA in CCIA v. Paxton, a landmark decision that was left standing without Supreme Court review. This solidified a permanent legal blueprint for states across the country.
It is time for lawmakers in Washington to stop adding to the pile of tech-written distraction bills that neutralize state prosecutors and strip parents of their authority. The families of America, law enforcement professionals and survivor parents like John DeMay, who lost his 17-year-old son, Jordan, to online predators, have exposed the truth with immense courage.
The mandate for Congress is clear and urgent. We urge the Senate to pass KOSA as a standalone bill without delay, adopt the state-protective preemption language passed in the House’s KIDS Act and fiercely preserve the bill’s foundational duty of care.
Coupled with the state-level power of the App Store Accountability Act, this dual framework provides families with the comprehensive protection they require. Any compromise that removes the duty of care hands Big Tech a victory
Our children’s lives are on the line and Congress must finally write the law in their favor.
• Dr. Marcel van der Watt is president and CEO at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and Benjamin Bull, Esq. is senior vice president and general counsel at NCOSE, which can be reached at www.EndSexualExploitation.org.
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