Davenport signs bipartisan letter asking Congress to hold off on ‘inadequate’ online safety bill

A national, bipartisan coalition of dozens of attorneys general is asking Congress to hit the brakes on a bill that would preempt state law, with state officials signaling that they want a say in how online regulation is enforced. 

The states say the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, if passed, would weaken their ability to protect children from harmful internet practices and insulate tech companies. Attorney General Jennifer Daveport signed the letter, which the National Association of Attorneys General released Tuesday. 

“The bill not only fails to meaningfully protect kids, but also imperils the significant progress our jurisdictions have achieved on a wide array of tech issues,” the letter reads. “Given the rate of technological progress and the limited efforts to date to pass responsive laws that protect children, it is too soon to shut down the ‘laboratories of democracy.’”

The KIDS Act is still in the beginning stages of the legislative process. The New Jersey AG’s Office said the bill includes a “gaping enforcement loophole” for AI chatbot regulations and would make it harder to implement age-verification measures online.

“It’s as simple as this: Technology companies shouldn’t be insulated from accountability when they put our kids in harm’s way and earn billions of dollars off of their data in the process. As a parent, I won’t allow that—and neither should Congress,” Davenport said in a release. “I am standing together with a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in opposing any effort by Congress to take away states’ rights to hold Big Tech accountable when they harm our kids.”

In February, Davenport signaled her support for the Senate’s version of the Kids Online Safety Act, a similar but stronger piece of legislation.