Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) pushed back against tech companies' criticism of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), responding in a memo Monday to what she described as "lies" about the privacy legislation.
The memo, released Monday morning by her office, rebuked a series of arguments made by some leading tech companies and lawmakers opposed to the bill's current form. It comes as the legislation faces an uncertain future in the House after passing in the Senate earlier this year.
Blackburn, the co-author of the Senate-passed version, wrote KOSA does not censor speech nor affect the First Amendment — concerns raised by some House Republicans.
"KOSA would not censor, limit, or remove any content from the internet and it does not give the FTC or state AGs the power to bring lawsuits over content or speech, no matter who it is from," the memo stated. "The bill passes First Amendment scrutiny because it is content neutral."
The bill would not give any new "rulemaking power" to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Blackburn wrote in response to some Republicans' concerns it would give........