Speaker Johnson says ‘there’s still some concern’ about Elon Musk-backed online security bill

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he still has lingering doubts about an online safety bill for children that Elon Musk backed behind it this weekend

“There’s still some concern about the free speech components, and whether that could lead to additional government censorship of valid, you know, conservative voices, for example. So we’re working through all of that Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

The Children’s Online Safety Act (KOSA) is the most important social media reform pushed by the Senate in decades.

It passed the upper house of Congress by a vote of 91 to 3, but ran into trouble in the House of Representatives, where leaders have expressed concern about possible censure and the power it gives to the Federal Commission on trade

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Linda Yaccarino, CEO of social media platform X, owned by Musk, announced over the weekend that they have worked with the sponsors of the Senate bill to alleviate some of these issues.

“We’ve heard pleas from parents and advocates for young people looking for reasonable safeguards across online platforms, and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) addresses that need. After working with the bill’s authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of expression while keeping minors safe online,” Yaccarino wrote on the platform this weekend. “We urge Congress and the House to pass the Child Online Safety Act this year.”

It precipitated a lobbying campaign over the weekend by allies of President-elect Donald Trump who pushed the House to take up the bill. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and Donald Trump Jr. were among those who chimed in, as well as Musk himself, who posted on X: “Protecting children should always be the #1 priority.”

Johnson said Tuesday that he appreciated the efforts behind the legislation. He also suggested the effort could be renewed next year, with just two weeks left in the current Congressional term.

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“I’m grateful for the hard work that’s been done. I’m grateful for the support behind it. I certainly think that all of us, 100% of us, support the principle behind it,” the speaker said.

“But you’ve got to get this one right when you’re dealing with regulation of freedom of expression You can’t go too far and make it too broad, but you want to achieve those goals. So it is essential that we get this problem right.

“We’re very optimistic that if it doesn’t get done this year, we can get it done early next year with our Republican majorities, because it’s the Republican Party that has been working aggressively to protect kids online.”

The bill’s leaders, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., thanked Musk and Yaccarino for their work over the weekend.

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“These changes should remove once and for all the false narrative that this bill would be weaponized by unelected bureaucrats to censure Americans,” Blackburn and Blumenthal said. “We appreciate that this endorsement and the revised text reflect their publicly stated goal of promoting freedom of expression without fear of censorship. We reiterate X’s call to pass KOSA by the end of the year; it is clear that this legislation has overwhelming support from Congress.”

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KOSA would impose a responsibility on social media companies to prevent and mitigate potential harm that could be caused to users under the age of 17.

The bill would also force platforms to block addictive content for minor users and make it easier for minors to protect their information, among other measures.