KOSA, Instagram and Snapchat Updates
What parents need to know about the latest headlines
KOSA
KOSA is short for the Kids Online Safety Act.
It is a bill meant to regulate tech companies in an effort to protect children. KOSA (sometimes also called KOSPA) passed the Senate earlier this summer on July 30th with a vote of 91-3. You could say it has pretty overwhelming support.
The bill that passed the Senate requires platforms to
Allow users to disable addictive product features
Give users options to restrict messages and make their accounts more private
Address how their recommendation engines promote illegal substances to young people
Provide clear privacy policies specifically for minors
Establish easy to use reporting mechanisms with timely response mechanisms
It also
Expands privacy protections already in place under the first COPPA act passed in 1998
Bans targeted advertising to kids and teens
Requires them to build a mechanisms that will permit users to delete information
The bill then moved to the house or Representatives. It came out of markup on Wednesday September 18th with some significant changes. Most notably, the Duty of Care Clause was weakened.
Duty of Care Debate
In the Senate bill, a broad Duty of Care was imputed on tech companies. In the mark-up, the Duty of Care was limited to only cover bodily harm. Said differently, other non-bodily harms like anxiety, depression & addiction would not be the responsibility of the tech companies.
There are some who oppose passing this version of the bill because the Duty of Care is too weak. (For more about the Duty of Care changes read here )
Censorship Debate
There are others who oppose the passing of this and the senate’s original version because the bill is too vaguely worded and it grants too much authority to the FTC which raises concerns about censorship. (For more on this issue, read here)
The House has not scheduled a vote as of this writing but it could happen very soon.
Instagram
On Tuesday September 17th, as KOSA was being worked on in the House, Instagram announced significant upgrades to their parental controls. Smart timing on their part, I suppose but I have some questions. I summarize the changes with my lingering questions and other commentary in CAPS
The changes include:
Private by default- New accounts for anyone under 18 will be private by default. Only approved followers can see posts
Stricter Limits on Sensitive Content- sensitive content like people fighting and cosmetic procedures will be limited
IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE?
Automatic Sleep Mode- Notifications will be muted from 10pm to 7am. DM’s sent during these hours will receive an automated reply
WHAT IS THE AUTOMATED REPLY? CAN IT BE EDITED?
Time Limit Nudge- Users will be reminded to close the app after 60 minutes
IS THIS 60 MINUTES TOTAL OR AFTER 60 MINUTES STRAIGHT?
Parental Controls- Parents can see accounts their teen has recently interacted with and monitor their time spent
THIS ISN’T NEW
Automatic placement- Under 16’s will automatically be placed in a teen account and will need a parents permission to change settings.
DO PARENTS HAVE TO SIGN UP 16 AND 17 YEAR OLDS MANUALLY? HOW?
Snapchat
Also on Tuesday September 17th was the annual Snap Partner Summit where they roll out the cool stuff they’ve been working on for the past year. I attended virtually and this is what I learned. Again, commentary in CAPS
They made no new updates to their existing parental controls
MISSED OPPORTUNITY GIVEN THE KOSA ACTIVITY
They announced partnerships with Common Sense Media and SafeandSoundSchools
I WAS EXCITED AND INTRIGUED ABOUT THIS BUT THEY SHARED NO SPECIFICS AND I COULDN’T FIND ANY DETAIL ANYWHERE
They launched a grandparents filter and plenty of fun and cool little changes that will appeal to kids like ability to make collages and AI augmented photos, a what will our kids look like lens, Prada & Croc accessories for Bitmojis & the ability to add your dog to your SnapMap.
SNAP IS YOUTHFUL BRAND BUT I CAN’T HELP FEEING LIKE THESE FEATURES ARE MOST APPEALING TO THE YOUNGEST USERS
They are rolling out a simplified Snapchat. 3 tabs instead of 5. You will still open to the camera with chat to the left and entertainment to the right. Maps is embedded in chat.
THIS IS A LONG TIME COMING. ALL THE PARENTS STRUGGLE WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS APP. I HOPE THIS NEW NAVIGATION SYSTEM MEANS ITS EASIER FOR THE GROWN UPS!
My $0.02
Consider contacting your House Representative and sharing your position on KOSA. If you find the changes to the Duty of Care clause or the concerns about censorship too problematic, tell your representative. If you are in the ‘progress not perfection’ camp, tell your representative.
Either way, this is an opportunity to take action. I hope that you take it!
Resources
If you’re interested in contacting your House Representative, go here to find them
OR
Jonathan Haidt and Fairplay have created this page to help you leave a message for your representative (if you are PRO-KOSA they have a script)
Get a summary of IG changes directly from IG
Refresh your memory with my primers on Snapchat & Instagram Parental Controls