FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined 31 other Attorneys General in urging Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) which would protect children from online harm.  

“It is time for Congress to join states like South Dakota to protect children on internet content,” said Attorney General Jackley.

The KOSA includes:

• Mandatory default safety settings: Requiring platforms to automatically enable their strongest safety protections for minors rather than burying these features behind opt-in screens;
• Addiction prevention: Allowing young users and their parents to disable manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations that keep children from endlessly scrolling; and,
• Parental empowerment: Providing parents with new tools to identify harmful behaviors and improved capabilities to report dangerous content.

South Dakota and other states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms like Meta and TikTok because of the harm the platforms can cause to the mental health of young people.

Other Attorney Generals who signed the letter are from: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.

You can view the letter here.

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