ATTORNEY GENERAL LOPEZ LEADS COALITION OPPOSING KIDS ACT, SUPPORTS STRONGER ONLINE PROTECTIONS FOR CHILDREN

News Release 2026-29 from Office of the Attorney General, May 27, 2026

HONOLULU – Attorney General Anne Lopez today announced that Hawaiʻi and three other states are leading a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general opposing the federal Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (“KIDS Act”), H.R. 7757, arguing the bill would weaken states’ ability to protect children online while insulating Big Tech from accountability.

The coalition warned, in a letter to Congressional leadership, that the KIDS Act would broadly preempt state laws addressing online harms to minors, including social media harms, obscenity, social gaming platforms and artificial intelligence chatbots.

Attorney General Lopez emphasized that Congress should instead advance legislation that includes a meaningful duty of care requirement for online platforms.

“As technology continues to evolve, our responsibility to protect children online must evolve with it,” said Attorney General Lopez. “States need the ability to respond quickly to emerging online threats impacting minors, whether that involves social media platforms, exploitative algorithms, artificial intelligence tools, or other digital harms. Congress should strengthen protections for children, while preserving the ability of states to enforce strong safeguards and hold online platforms accountable.”

The coalition expressed support for the U.S. Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), S. 1748, which includes a key Duty of Care provision requiring online platforms to act in the best interests of minors while preserving states’ authority to enforce stronger protections for children and teens.

The letter comes as attorneys general across the country continue investigations and litigation involving major social media platforms, including Meta and TikTok, over allegations that their platforms target and harm underage users.

Attorney General Lopez is co-leading this effort with the attorneys general from Connecticut, Ohio and Tennessee. They are joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The letter is being sent to Congressional leadership, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

The letter can be found here.

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PDF: KIDS-Act-_-FINAL.pdf