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Meta urged the American lawmakers not to be immune from the law in cases alleging the harm of children on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, according to the report.
This comes as Meta faces a wave of youth safety lawsuits, including thousands of similar claims filed in California state courts and separate lawsuits brought by states and school districts. Meta and Google, which own YouTube, were awarded a combined $6 million in damages after a Los Angeles jury found them negligent in a lawsuit alleging Instagram and YouTube were designed to harm young users. Both companies said they plan to appeal the case.
If language like Meta's proposal is adopted by lawmakers and signed into law as part of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) being considered in the Senate, the provision could undermine pending and future complaints against Meta and other social media platforms regarding child safety.
Lawmakers have not said they would be receptive to the language, but the lobbying effort shows the kind of legal protection Meta is seeking amid government efforts to regulate online platforms.
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Meta has lobbied US lawmakers to provide legal immunity to lawsuits alleging the harm of children on social media. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The proposed language would make online companies “immune from liability or liability under state law with respect to all claims for loss arising from, arising out of, related to, or attributable to the safety or privacy of persons under the age of eighteen online or otherwise related to the provisions” of KOSA, according to Reuters.
The proposal comes alongside language that calls for the state measure to preempt state laws for children's online safety and privacy.
Meta spokeswoman Stephanie Otway told Reuters that the provision “does not erase existing cases, and does not represent a complete immunity.”
“Instead, it establishes uniform national standards for youth online safety, ensuring that these critical issues are governed by broad federal laws, not plaintiffs' attorneys or state laws,” she said.
But Julia Duncan of the American Association for Justice, a group that represents trial lawyers, said that if the provision is not adopted, it will kill any pending cases when the law goes into effect.
The provision could undermine thousands of complaints against Meta and other social networks about child safety. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“The language is indefensible for every parent, every school district, to hold any AI or social media company accountable for harm” to children, Duncan said. “There is no other way to learn this language.”
Meta proposed this language to withdraw its efforts to oppose KOSA, the source told Reuters.
KOSA, sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would require social media companies to take steps to prevent certain harm to minors, including mandatory use of their platforms.
The move is now the subject of talks between Blackburn and the White House to include child online safety bills with a provision that would prevent some state laws on AI.
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Meta proposed this language to withdraw its efforts to oppose KOSA. ((Image credit by Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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“We have not seen that proposed language and we will not consider it,” a spokesperson for the GOP senator told Reuters.
Under this bill, technology companies will need to use care in adding certain features such as infinite scrolling, activity notifications and photo filters that change visibility.
A woman won a lawsuit earlier this year against Meta and Google, the owner of YouTube, after his lawyers successfully argued that the companies knew that these elements were addictive and dangerous to young people. Tech companies plan to appeal the decision.
KOSA passed the Senate in 2024 before failing in the House. The measure was renewed this year with support from both Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., and Senate Minerals Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.
Reuters contributed to this report.
