On November 4, 2026, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general urging Congress to pass the Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). In a letter to congressional leadership, Brown and other attorneys general expressed support for Senate Bill 1748, which aims to establish minimum safety standards for social media platforms while allowing states to enforce laws protecting children from online harms.
The call for federal legislation follows a $17 billion multistate settlement with Meta, which requires the company to implement safeguards for users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram. The attorneys general noted that these safeguards do not extend to other online platforms or address broader industry harms.
Press Release: Office of the Attorney General of Maryland
Published November 4, 2026. Reproduced in full from the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland.
Attorney General Brown Joins Bipartisan Effort Urging Congress to Pass Kids Online Safety Act
BALTIMORE, MD , Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general urging Congress to pass the Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), legislation aimed at strengthening online protections for children and teens.
In a letter to congressional leadership, Attorney General Brown and other participating attorneys general expressed continued support for Senate Bill 1748, which would establish minimum safety standards for social media platforms while preserving states’ authority to enact and enforce laws protecting children from online harms.
The renewed call for federal legislation follows the recently announced $17 billion multistate settlement with Meta, including Maryland, which requires the company to implement significant safeguards designed to protect users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram. These include daily time limits, restrictions on nighttime use, stronger protections against bullying, limits on certain potentially harmful content, and enhanced parental controls.
In their letter, the attorneys general emphasized that the safeguards established through the Meta settlement do not protect children on other online platforms or from harms across the entire technology industry.
The attorneys general also highlighted the importance of KOSA’s Duty of Care provision, which would establish a lasting standard for all social media platforms that extends beyond the term of the Meta settlement. Unlike a settlement with an individual company, this legislation could adapt as technologies and platform features evolve, while preserving the states’ ability to develop and enforce additional protections against emerging online harms.
Since 2021, state attorneys general have investigated major social media platforms over concerns about addictive design features and their impacts on children’s mental health. Those investigations led to lawsuits against Meta and other companies, as attorneys general sought to hold platforms accountable for practices that allegedly harmed young users.
Joining Attorney General Brown are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
