Both LGBTQ+ advocacy and digital rights groups have been quick to warn that bipartisan efforts to protect minors online could cut off vital resources and put marginalized groups in danger.

Driving the news: Since last year, lawmakers have been working with groups to address concerns. Now, some are warming up to proposals as refinements are made, but disagreements remain — especially among digital rights groups that think the bill still goes too far, Maria and Ashley report.

• One recently reintroduced proposal, the Kids Online Safety Act from Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn, has been the subject of a lot of debate: "We had extensive and collaborative conversations with the LGBTQ+ community and other stakeholders," a Blumenthal spokesperson told Axios.
• "These discussions resulted in several changes directly responsive to their concerns, which shifted a number of significant LGBTQ+ movement organizations to a neutral position on the bill."

Why it matters: There's broad agreement that unregulated social media is harmful to young people. But for LGBTQ+ communities in particular, the internet has long provided lifesaving information and a sense of community.

• There is also a general wariness among organizations working on digital rights of any bills that limit online speech, fearing a slippery slope of censorship and weaponization against certain groups.

What's happening: KOSA, first introduced last year, was narrowed to make platforms liable for a "duty of care" only when it comes to specific harms exacerbated by their product designs and algorithms, such as eating disorders or suicidal behavior.

• Bill sponsors also limited the duty of care language to ensure it's not misinterpreted to require platforms to block content that a young person requests as well as access to medical and support resources.
• Groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future say the bill would still empower state attorneys general with anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies to interpret and enforce the bill.
• Emma Llansó, a director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, told Axios that the changes do not go far enough, especially given its empowering of attorneys general.
• "There is a contrast between what the bill says on its face and what is going to happen with that legislative language in practice," Llansó said.

Beyond KOSA, opponents of Sen. Dick Durbin's Stop CSAM bill say it would allow the use of encryption to be weaponized against tech companies as evidence for facilitating child sex abuse material online.

• A Judiciary Committee aide rebutted that argument, telling Axios that encryption alone can't be used as evidence and in a vacuum. Much more relevant evidence would need to be presented to bring a serious case against a platform, the aide added.

Yes, but: Some groups are pleased with what they see as a more targeted version of KOSA, describing a productive back-and-forth with bill sponsors over the past months where concerns were addressed.

• The Mental Health Liaison Group, a coalition of national organizations, sent a letter today to Senate leaders in support of KOSA. Members of the coalition are part of the LGBTQ+ community and provide gender-affirming care.
• KOSA is significantly narrower than it was last year, one national LGBTQ+ group told Axios. The group previously thought it was overly broad, gave parents too much access and swept in all kinds of activity. Now it sees no reason to oppose the bill.
• LGBTQ+ youth are at high risk of suicide and suicide ideation, in part because of what platforms are feeding through their algorithms, said the group, which has been meeting with bill sponsors about their concerns.

What's next: KOSA has not yet been scheduled for a markup, but advocates say they expect more changes to the bill will be made during that process.

It's tech policy bill season! Here's our roundup of what dropped this week, and other proposals to keep an eye on.

1. PATA: Sen. Chris Coons reintroduced the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act today.

• The bipartisan social media transparency bill would require social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to comply with qualified researcher requests for data.
• Sens. Bill Cassidy, Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn, Richard Blumenthal and Mitt Romney are co-sponsors.

2. JCPA: At today's Senate Judiciary business meeting, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act also made a comeback.

• The bill — which would require Big Tech companies to pay some local news outlets for their content — was listed on the agenda for the first time and held over, making it eligible to be marked up as early as next week.

3. Cooper Davis Act: The Senate Judiciary Committee again held over one of the bills in its kids online safety package, the Cooper Davis Act, with Chair Dick Durbin saying the legislation is subject to "active negotiations."

• The bill would require social media companies to report their users to the DEA for certain alleged illegal drug sales.
• "I know this has been held over several times, but it is for a good purpose. We’re trying to build a consensus or close to it to support this important legislation," Durbin added during today's business meeting.

4. Global tech leadership: Sens. Michael Bennet, Todd Young and Mark Warner introduced the Global Technology Leadership Act today.

• The bill would establish an Office of Global Competition Analysis to explore how the U.S. is doing on key emerging tech like AI versus countries like China.
• "We see a few potential paths forward for the bill this year — we’re pushing for the bill to be included in the Intelligence Authorization Act ... and think this bill could be a good complement to the work leader Schumer wants to do this year on China competition and AI," Bennet's office told Axios.

5. Lieu's AI plans: Rep. Ted Lieu said yesterday he's planning to introduce bipartisan legislation to create a blue ribbon commission to help educate Congress on AI. We'll keep you updated.

In case you missed a newsletter this week, here’s a quick recap of everything we covered on tech policy.

• 🔖 Don't forget to bookmark this page to keep track of all our Pro Tech Policy coverage.

Section 230: On Monday, Ashley dug into why Congress is still stumped by 230.

• Why it matters: Waiting for the Supreme Court to possibly alter the internet's fundamental law has led to nothing but status quo. It's still up to Congress, which has struggled for years to grapple with the law in the modern internet age, to change or amend it.

Quantum: On Tuesday, Maria explored how lawmakers are gearing up to expand a bipartisan quantum research and development effort aimed at boosting U.S. national security — and beating Beijing.

• Driving the news: The House Science Committee held a hearing yesterday to evaluate the first five years of the National Quantum Initiative Act — set to expire Sept. 30 — and what policies should be considered for its reauthorization.

Lofgren on quantum: Maria also spoke with House Science ranking member Zoe Lofgren about her goals for the next NQIA.

• The takeaway? Although science and tech are sweet spots for bipartisanship, money rarely is.

Senate AI briefings: Ashley let you know about three upcoming AI briefings this summer, including one that will be classified.

• Our thought bubble: A classified briefing brings a new level of seriousness to lawmakers' efforts to understand and get ahead of AI. But real, consequential policymaking is going to be difficult.