Washington (July 23, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) issued the following statement after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate would vote on their bipartisan, bicameral Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0):

“For far too long, as children and teens suffered from a devastating mental health crisis, driven, in part, by Big Tech, Congress sat back and did nothing. That ends in the next week when the Senate votes on COPPA 2.0. Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation has been intensely vetted, has strong support on both sides of the aisle, and directly targets Big Tech’s underlying incentive to keep young people scrolling, clicking, and liking for as long as possible. With this vote, the Senate has a critical opportunity to send a message to Big Tech and put an end to the relentless targeting and tracking of kids and teens online. We commend Leader Schumer for taking up this legislation and urge all our colleagues to vote yes.”

COPPA 2.0 modifies and strengthens the original Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by (1) banning targeted advertising to children and teens; (2) prohibiting platforms from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent; (3) revising COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard to close the loophole that allows platforms to ignore kids and teens on their site; (4) creating an “Eraser Button” that allows for children and teens to delete their personal information; and (5) establishing data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens’ data.

COPPA 2.0 is supported by over 100 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense Media, Design It For Us, Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action, Fairplay, National Education Association, National Parent Teacher Association, and U.S. PIRG.

In April, Representative Tim Walberg (MI-05) and Representative Kathy Castor (FL-14) introduced the House companion to COPPA 2.0. In February 2024, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, agreed to cosponsor COPPA 2.0. In July 2023, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee unanimously passed?COPPA 2.0.

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