The Kids Online Safety Act is named for children. Sara Higdon says the bill does something else. It pushes platforms to decide who is a minor, control what those minor sees, and check every adult in order to prove they are not a child. That is a censorship and digital-ID system with a child-safety label.

On September 30, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal tried to pass Senate KOSA by unanimous consent. Senator Rand Paul objected. The shortcut died. The bill did not. It still has a duty of care, dozens of cosponsors, and a path back after the Senate returns in November.

Higdon is a combat veteran, a liberty writer, and the digital marketing manager at Free the People. Sara has spent years on parental rights and medical transition for minors. In this episode Sara talks about why groups that fought for parents in schools are now backing mandates that sideline them, why the Meta settlement helps the company that paid it, and why the App Store Accountability Act would make Apple and Google the gatekeepers of the internet.

Kids are being harmed online. These bills do not stop it. They give parents a false sense of security and build a system that outlasts whoever is in power.

Parents are the firewall. Not the state. Not Big Tech.

Sara Higdon: sarahigdon.com and @SaraHigdon
. Free the People: freethepeople.org.

Protecting Kids Online is a coalition of parents and citizens pushing back on surveillance and censorship bills sold as child safety. Read the bills. Talk to your legislators. Join the coalition at protectingkids.online.