Meta has asked Congress to add legal protections to the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, that would limit child-harm claims against online platforms including Instagram.

The move comes as KOSA is under consideration in the US Senate. Negotiations also cover provisions that could preempt some state child-safety rules and claims under state law tied to minors’ safety or privacy.

In House debate on a separate draft, Democrats said it could override state laws on child privacy and product liability, potentially shutting down lawsuits and setting a federal ceiling on youth protections.

The issue matters for Meta because the company is a defendant in the federal social media youth-harm multidistrict litigation. The litigation had 2,664 pending cases as of June 1, 2026.

The lawsuits allege that platform features such as notifications and filters harmed minors.

Courts have increasingly held that Section 230 does not bar some product-design and failure-to-warn claims. That helps explain why platforms still face youth-safety lawsuits despite existing federal internet liability protections.

The proposal could reduce legal risks for major social media platforms as scrutiny over the impact of online services on minors continues to grow in the US.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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