The tug-of-war over safety and free speech.

This week on Caveat, Dave and Ben welcome back N2K’s own Ethan Cook for the third installment of our newest policy deep dive segment. As a trusted expert in law, privacy, and surveillance, Ethan is joining the show regularly to provide in-depth analysis on the latest policy developments shaping the cybersecurity and legal landscape. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing!

Policy Deep Dive In this Caveat Policy Deep Dive, we turn our focus to online safety for children. The discussion highlights legislative efforts such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and COPPA 2.0, which aim to strengthen protections for minors online but face criticism over free speech concerns and potential government overreach. Despite bipartisan support, these bills have stalled in Congress, prompting states like Florida, California, and Utah to implement their own child safety laws. The episode examines the challenges of enforcement, the impact of state-led initiatives, and the ongoing debate over balancing child protection with digital rights.

Get the weekly Caveat Briefing delivered to your inbox. Like what you heard? Be sure to check out and subscribe to our Caveat Briefing, a weekly newsletter available exclusively to N2K Pro members on N2K CyberWire's website. N2K Pro members receive our Thursday wrap-up covering the latest in privacy, policy, and research news, including incidents, techniques, compliance, trends, and more. This week’s Caveat Briefing covers the story of the ongoing debate over online child safety, focusing on stalled federal bills like KOSA and COPPA 2.0, concerns over free speech and enforcement, and how states are stepping in with their own regulations. Curious about the details? Head over to the Caveat Briefing for the full scoop and additional compelling stories. Got a question you'd like us to answer on our show? You can send your audio file to caveat@thecyberwire.com. Hope to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices