National Black Justice Collective Leads Coalition Urging Congress to Reject Current Version of the U.S. Senate’s Kids Online Safety Act
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National Black Justice Collective Leads Coalition Urging Congress to Reject Current Version of the U.S. Senate’s Kids Online Safety Act
LGBTQ+/Same-Gender Loving, Tech, Racial Justice, and Youth-Advocacy Groups Warn Bill Would Enable Government Censorship and Strip Vulnerable Youth of Lifesaving Online Resources
WASHINGTON — The National Black Justice Collective (NBJC), in coalition with prominent civil rights, youth advocacy, technology, and LGBTQ+/same-gender loving (SGL) organizations, today sent an open letter to Congress urging it to reject the language in the current version of the U.S. Senate’s Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). It warns that in today’s political climate of escalating federal and state-level attacks on Black, LGBTQ+/SGL, and other marginalized communities, the bill would grant sweeping censorship powers to government officials and jeopardize young people’s access to life-saving information and resources online.
The letter urges Congress to conduct comprehensive impact assessments, hold hearings led by youth directly affected by the legislation, and explore alternative approaches to online safety that do not rely on content-based censorship or politicized enforcement.
Read the full letter and list of signatories HERE.
The coalition’s experts outline deep constitutional, technical, and civil rights concerns with the legislation, noting that vague “duty of care” standards would pressure platforms into over-policing protected speech while empowering federal and state officials — including those actively advancing book bans, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion rollbacks, and restrictions on gender-affirming care — to determine what content young people can see.
“Protecting our babies should never be a pretext for erasing them. Our communities don’t need more surveillance or government control disguised as protection. We need policies that keep our youth safe, not weaponizing their identities,” said Dr. David J. Johns, CEO and Executive Director of the National Black Justice Collective. “As written, the U.S. Senate’s KOSA would hand an anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ+/SGL administration additional power to silence any young person seeking affirming information online. Black Queer and disabled youth already face alarming mental health disparities, and cutting them off from supportive digital spaces will only worsen this crisis. Congress must reject this dangerous version of KOSA and instead listen to the young people whose lives are most at stake.”
The letter cites extensive research showing that LGBTQ+ youth—particularly those in rural communities or unsupportive households—rely on online spaces for community, mental health resources, and information unavailable to them locally. It also notes that under KOSA’s enforcement structure, content on LGBTQ+ identity, reproductive health, racial justice, and other marginalized experiences could be targeted or suppressed.Organizational signatories include the Center for Black Equity, COLAGE, GLSEN, Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnerships, LGBT Tech, National Black Justice Collective,National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, and Our Family Coalition, with additional partners still joining.