Kathy Hatem, senior communications advisor for Enough Is Enough, says kids and the internet do not mix well, and her team wants this to be the year more child protections are added.
"Enough Is Enough is urging our congressional leaders to prioritize foundational online child safety laws in 2026," she tells AFN. "We know that without action, our children remain dangerously exposed to online harms; they're even losing their lives as a result of the harms they're exposed to."
The number of kids targeted by online predators, sextortionists, pornography, and addictive algorithms, she says, is "skyrocketing" and "really staggering." Additionally, technology is being used to create or alter images of children.
"In 2024, there was a 1,325% increase in generative AI reports made to the cyber tip line of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," Hatem relays. "They even reported 20.5 million reports of suspected child exploitation."
Add to that the tragic reports of teens who have taken their own lives after becoming victims of sextortion and kids who have built unhealthy relationships or attachments to AI companions that ultimately offered them instruction on self-harm or supported them in ending their life, Hatem says, "This is really a growing pandemic."
That is why her organization is calling on Congress to "take action now" by passing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Sunset 230 Act.
KOSA would require online platforms to take a “duty of care” to protect minors from online harms by limiting addictive features, strengthening privacy protections, and giving parents and teens more control over content and data.
The other measure would add a "sunset" provision to Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, meaning that the legal protections tech platforms currently enjoy under Section 230 would expire after December 31, 2026, unless Congress acts to renew or reform them.
Supporters frame it as a bipartisan effort to protect users and children online, while critics warn that sunsetting Section 230 could undermine free expression and innovation by exposing platforms and even individual users to more legal risk.
Both bills are still working through committee stages.
