A congressional committee advanced a much-talked-about bill that seeks to protect children from potentially harmful online content after a long battle over Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) version that many suggested would have increased online censorship.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Kids Online Safety Act during a committee markup hearing on Sept. 18 led by Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). The recently approved legislation stripped the controversial “duty of care” provisions that Democrats support and would have forced Big Tech companies to potentially censor even constitutionally protected free speech, critics suggested.

Media Research Center President Brent Bozell applauded the House bill but cautioned conservatives. "Protecting children is extremely important, but we should not fall into the trap of allowing Big Tech to censor us, which we know will happen on issues like gender ideology and abortion,” Bozell said. “I support the current House bill. If the Senate’s censorship provisions are added to the bill under the cloak of darkness, conservatives will have to oppose it.”

Dan Schneider, the vice president of MRC Free Speech America, echoed Bozell’s remarks in a separate statement. “Big Tech companies have used and abused children in really terrible ways. It is long overdue for Congress to take action against yet another of tech’s reprehensible practices,” he stated. 

Schneider also pointed out the complexities of the battle as it related to potential threats to the U.S. Constitution. “Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Gus Bilirakis deserve a lot of praise, not only for taking on the tech titans but doing so in a way that also protects free speech rights,” he added. “Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal’s Senate bill included provisions to coerce Big Tech to censor conservatives even more than they are already prone to do. The House must never allow a bill to advance to the House floor if Democrats put back in those censorship provisions.”

Rodgers hailed the committee for advancing the proposed legislation in a statement, saying, “In the nearly 230-year history of this Committee, we have established a rich tradition of taking on the hard problems and delivering solutions for the American people. Today we will continue to build on that record of success.”

Despite the bill’s bipartisan support—it passed in the Senate with a 91-3 vote— questions remain about whether Democrats will successfully influence Republicans to reinstate the “duty of care” censorship provisions during debates on the House Committee on Rules.

During the markup hearing, several Democrats and Republicans appeared to hint at potential amendments. “We have continued to take a significant amount of feedback on this bill, and I've offered the Nays that I believe substantively respond to many concerns about speech regulation, censorship and overreach,” Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) said, before urging his colleagues to vote for the bill for now.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) echoed Bilirakis’s remarks later in the hearing. “I think this is a good bill. Can it be improved? Absolutely. I've already spoken with Mr. Bilirakis about an amendment that, as I was reading through it, I realized there's a little amendment that needs to be made.”

Read the House Energy and Commerce-approved legislation below:

H R 7891 Kids Online Safety... by Luis Cornelio

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