Kids Online Safety Act

Last updated

Kids Online Safety Act
Great Seal of the United States (obverse).svg
Long titleA bill to protect the safety of children on the internet.
Acronyms (colloquial)KOSA
Announced inthe 118th United States Congress
Legislative history

The "Kids Online Safety Act" (KOSA) is a bill introduced in the United States Senate by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D ‑ CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R ‑ TN) in February 2022 [1] and reintroduced in May 2023; the bill establishes guidelines meant to protect minors on social media platforms. [2] KOSA charges individual state attorneys general with enforcing it. [3] The bill originates from the 2021 Facebook leak, which lead to a congressional investigation of Big Tech's lack of protection for young minors.

Contents

The bill has been criticized by civil rights organizations for potentially enabling censorship, including of material important to marginalized groups. [4] Blackburn has argued that resources on topics such as racism and the civil rights movement overlap with the critical race theory, which she sees as "dangerous".

Bill summary

The Kids Online Safety Act, if passed, would require social media platforms to reduce online dangers by changing their design or opting out of algorithm based recommendation systems. [5] It aims to create liability or a "duty of care" for apps and social networking platforms for specfic content that may not be suitable for minors. If the entities behind these Internet platforms fail to filter said content from minors, they might be open for legal action against them. [6]

History

KOSA was introduced to the Senate by senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn on February 16, 2022. The bill was a direct result after Frances Haugen, a data scientist for Facebook, leaked internal files through The Wall Street Journal in 2021 that showed negative effects of Instagram on minors' mental health, among other topics. The leak led to a Congressional investigation of Big Tech's lack of protection for young users with Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri testifying to Congress in December 2021. [7] Blumenthal, citing the leaked Facebook data, stated that the bill's intention was "not to burn the internet to the ground, not to destroy tech platforms or the internet or these sites; it is simply to enlist the social media platforms in this joint effort to achieve what should be a common goal—protecting children." [8]

The bill was advanced by the Senate Commerce Committee in July 2022, alongside an updated version of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (also known as COPPA 2.0). [9] Both were poised to be passed in the Senate as part of larger legislation near the end of the term for the 117th Congress, but failed to pass. [10]

President Joe Biden pushed Congress to pass legislation to protect children online during his 2023 State of the Union Address, leading Blackburn and Blumenthal to reintroduce KOSA in the Senate on May 2, 2023. [11] KOSA along with COPPA 2.0 were approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on July 27, 2023. [12] By February 2024, the bill had gained over 60 backers in the Senate to assure its passage, though there had yet to be a companion bill introduced in the House of Representatives by this point. [13]

Reception

KOSA has been supported by over 200 groups, including the National Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Foundation on Suicide Prevention and the American Psychological Association. [6] The bill has been criticized by members of the "Don't Delete Art" (DDA) movement and anti-censorship groups due to the chances of increased online surveillance and censorship of artists' work. Along with support from the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Coalition Against Censorship, Fight for the Future, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, DDA has encouraged people to signal their opposition through an online petition that labels KOSA as one of several "Bad Internet Bills." [14]

A letter sent to the United States Congress by Evan Greer—director of Fight for the Future—and signed by multiple civil society groups warns that KOSA could backfire and cause more harm to minors. [15] [16] [5] Fight for the Future has set up a Stop KOSA website for people to sign a petition and contact lawmakers against the bill. [17]

Interpretation of harms

Critics, including the EFF, note that the bill's definition of harm toward minors leaves room for broad interpretation by the state attorneys general who are charged with enforcing the bill, [18] [19] likening it to the FOSTA-SESTA bills. [20] The bill was revised in February 2024 as to shift the enforcement of the "duty of care" aspects of the bill from state attorneys to the Federal Trade Commission, though states would still be able to enforce other parts of the bill. [21]

The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation wrote that the initial 2022 iteration of KOSA didn't go far enough, as the bill didn't explicitly list transgender health care as a harm. [22] [23] The inclusion of the phrase "consistent with evidence-informed medical information" [24] could be used by attorneys general to cherry-pick anti-trans sources as justification since there is no definition of what "evidence-based medical information" can include. [25] Senator Blackburn, co-author of the bill, has argued that some education about racism and the civil rights movement overlaps with critical race theory, which she labels a "dangerous ideology" that can inflict "mental and emotional damage" upon children. [26] She has also explicitly stated that the bill will be used to censor content involving the transgender community. [27] EFF columnist Jason Kelly states that in the framework provided by the bill, that KOSA could be used to censor education about racism in schools since it could be claimed that it impacts mental health. [28]

In September 2023, a video from the Family Policy Alliance showed Blackburn saying that there should be a priority to "protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture", alongside her promotion for KOSA, stating "This would put a duty of care and responsibility on the social media platforms, and this is where children are being indoctrinated." [29] This drew criticism from LGBT advocacy groups, fearing that the bill would allow LGBT information for minors to be censored. A spokesperson for Blackburn stated that KOSA was not intended to censor LGBT information. [29] To address these concerns, the bill's language was altered so that the "duty of care" only focused on the product design features that influenced minors' behavior with the platforms, and not the content. As a result, several LGBTQ groups, including GLAAD and GLSEN, dropped their opposition to the bill. [30] However, the EFF, Fight for the Future, and the American Civil Liberties Union found the revisions far from adequate, arguing that LGBTQ content could still be suppressed by targeting any design feature that makes that content available. [21] [31] [32] [33]

Related Research Articles

The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) was the United States Congress's first notable attempt to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. In the 1997 landmark case Reno v. ACLU, the United States Supreme Court unanimously struck the act's anti-indecency provisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsha Blackburn</span> American politician and businesswoman (born 1952)

Mary Marsha Blackburn is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee. Blackburn was first elected to the Senate in 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Blackburn was a state senator from 1999 to 2003 and represented Tennessee's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2019, during which time the National Journal rated her among the House's most conservative members.

An age verification system, also known as an age gate, is any technical system that externally verifies a person's age. These systems are used primarily to restrict access to content classified, either voluntarily or by local laws, as being inappropriate for users under a specific age, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, video games with objectionable content, pornography, or to remain in compliance with online privacy laws that regulate the collection of personal information from minors, such as COPPA in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the United States</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States rank among the most advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence changing significantly since the late 1980s.

In the United States, internet censorship is the suppression of information published or viewed on the Internet in the United States. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression against federal, state, and local government censorship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Section 230</span> US federal law on website liability

Section 230 is a section of Title 47 of the United States Code that was enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which is Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and generally provides immunity for online computer services with respect to third-party content generated by its users. At its core, Section 230(c)(1) provides immunity from liability for providers and users of an "interactive computer service" who publish information provided by third-party users:

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Florida</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Florida have federal protections, but many face legal difficulties on the state level that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy law. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since January 6, 2015. Discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations is outlawed following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. In addition, several cities and counties, comprising about 55 percent of Florida's population, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. These include Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach, among others. Conversion therapy is also banned in a number of cities in the state, mainly in the Miami metropolitan area, but has been struck down by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In September 2023, Lake Worth Beach, Florida became an official "LGBT sanctuary city" to protect and defend LGBT rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Maryland</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Maryland enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. The state's anti-sodomy provisions were ruled unconstitutional in 1999 and repealed by the state's legislature in 2023. Maryland has had statewide protections against discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation since 2001 and gender identity since 2014. Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland was approved by voters on November 6, 2012 and went into effect on January 1, 2013. Today, the state of Maryland is regarded as one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the country, with a 2022 Public Religion Research Institute showing that 87% of Marylanders support LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws. Additionally, a ban on conversion therapy on minors became effective on October 1, 2018. In October 2020, Montgomery County passed unanimously an ordinance that implemented an LGBTIQ+ bill of rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Texas</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Texas have some protections in state law but may face legal and social challenges not faced by others. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in Texas in 2003 by the Lawrence v. Texas ruling. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled bans on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Tennessee</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Tennessee may experience some legal challenges that non-LGBT residents do not. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the state since 1996. Marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples in Tennessee since the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Virginia</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Commonwealth of Virginia enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. LGBT rights in the state are a recent occurrence with most improvements in LGBT rights occurring in the 2000s and 2010s. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Virginia since October 6, 2014, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal in the case of Bostic v. Rainey. Effective July 1, 2020, there is a state-wide law protecting LGBT persons from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit. The state's hate crime laws also now explicitly include both sexual orientation and gender identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOSTA-SESTA</span> US communications/sex trafficking bills

FOSTA and SESTA are U.S. Senate and House bills which became law on April 11, 2018. They clarify the country's sex trafficking law to make it illegal to knowingly assist, facilitate, or support sex trafficking, and amend the Section 230 safe harbors of the Communications Decency Act to exclude enforcement of federal or state sex trafficking laws from its immunity. Senate sponsor Rob Portman had previously led an investigation into the online classifieds service Backpage, and argued that Section 230 was protecting its "unscrupulous business practices" and was not designed to provide immunity to websites that facilitate sex trafficking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TikTok</span> Video-focused social media platform

TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.

Censorship of LGBT issues is practised by some countries around the world. They may take a variety of forms, including anti-LGBT curriculum laws in some states of the United States, the Russian gay propaganda law, and the Hungarian anti-LGBT law, and laws in Muslim-majority states such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Malaysia prohibiting advocacy that offends Islamic morality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EARN IT Act</span> Proposed US legislation

The EARN IT Act is a proposed legislation first introduced in 2020 in the United States Congress. It aims to amend Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which allows operators of websites to remove user-posted content that they deem inappropriate, and provides them with immunity from civil lawsuits related to such posting. Section 230 is the only surviving portion of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996.

There is evidence that TikTok has down-weighted the posts of topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party. Topics alleged to have been censored by the platform include the Persecution of Uyghurs in China, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, the Sino-Indian border dispute, foreign political leaders, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and people of African descent. TikTok has also removed or omitted information from its services to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws. TikTok's responses to claims of censorship have varied, responding that the platform was attempting to protect users from bullying, arguing that certain instances were the result of human error, and stating that such incidents were the result of algorithmic mistakes.

<i>Online Streaming Act</i> Canadian federal legislation

The Online Streaming Act, commonly known as Bill C-11, is a bill introduced in the 44th Canadian Parliament. It was first introduced on November 3, 2020, by Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault during the second session of the 43rd Canadian Parliament. Commonly known as Bill C-10, the bill was passed in the House of Commons on June 22, 2021, but failed to pass the Senate before Parliament was dissolved for a federal election. It was reintroduced with amendments as the Online Streaming Act during the first session of the 44th Canadian Parliament in February 2022, passed in the House of Commons on June 21, 2022, and passed in the Senate on February 2, 2023. It received royal assent on April 27, 2023, after the consideration of amendments by the House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online Safety Act 2023</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Online Safety Act 2023 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate online speech and media. It passed on 26 October 2023 and gives the relevant Secretary of State the power, subject to parliamentary approval, to designate and suppress or record a wide range of speech and media deemed "harmful".

Since the passage of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly known as the Don't Say Gay bill, The Walt Disney Company has been involved in a feud with Florida governor Ron DeSantis and the state's Republican Party. While initially a donor to some of the politicians who voted in favor of the Act, after its passage Disney spoke out against the bill and called for it to be repealed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Parental Rights in Education Act</span> Florida state law; "Dont Say Gay" bill

The Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" law, is a Florida state law passed in 2022 that regulates public schools in Florida. The law is most notable for its controversial sections which prohibit public schools from having "classroom discussion" or giving "classroom instruction" about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade or in any manner deemed to be against state standards in all grades; prohibits public schools from adopting procedures or student support forms that maintain the confidentiality of a disclosure by a student, including of the gender identity or sexual orientation of a student, from parents; and requires public schools to bear all the costs of all lawsuits filed by aggrieved parents.

References

  1. ↑ "Blackburn, Blumenthal Introduce Bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act". blackburn.senate.gov . May 2, 2023. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  2. ↑ "S.1409 — 118th Congress (2023-2024)". Congress.gov . Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ "S.1409 — 118th Congress (2023-2024)". Congress.gov . Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. (Section 11 B) In any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of any person in a practice that violates this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act, the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in a district court of the United States or a State court of appropriate jurisdiction... S. 1409
  4. ↑ Lorenz, Taylor (February 1, 2024). "Online safety legislation is opposed by many it claims to protect". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Paul, Kari (March 11, 2024). "'New text, same problems': inside the fight over child online safety laws". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Tenbarge, Kat (December 6, 2023). "200 groups push Congress to pass Kids Online Safety Act in 2024". NBC News . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  7. ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Kessler, Sarah; Gandel, Stephen; de la Merced, Michael J.; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (February 17, 2022). "Child Safety Is the New Tech Battleground". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  8. ↑ McKinnon, John D. (February 16, 2022). "Lawmakers Seek Tougher Online Safety Standards for Children". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  9. ↑ Klar, Rebecca (July 27, 2022). "Bills to boost kids' online safety advance in Senate with bipartisan support". The Hill . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  10. ↑ Gold, Ashley (November 16, 2022). "Kids' privacy online gets yearend push in Congress". Axios . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  11. ↑ Fiener, Lauren (May 2, 2023). "Lawmakers update Kids Online Safety Act to address potential harms, but fail to appease some activists, industry groups". CNBC . Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  12. ↑ Killy, Makena (July 27, 2023). "Senate panel advances bills to childproof the internet". The Verge . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  13. ↑ Lima-Strong, Cristiano (February 15, 2024). "Senate poised to pass biggest piece of tech regulation in decades". Washington Post . Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  14. ↑ Nayyar, Rhea (July 26, 2023). "Artists Call on Congress to Stop 'Bad Internet Bills'". Hyperallergic . Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Letter: 90+ LGBTQ and human rights organizations oppose KOSA". Fight for the Future. November 28, 2022. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ Feiner, Lauren (May 2, 2023). "Lawmakers update Kids Online Safety Act to address potential harms, but fail to appease some activists, industry groups". CNBC . Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Stop KOSA". Fight for the Future. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  18. ↑ Kelley, Jason (May 2, 2023). "The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. It will be based on vague requirements that any Attorney General could, more or less, make up.
  19. ↑ Molloy, Parker (July 27, 2023). "Congress is About to Pass a Very Bad Internet Bill. Here's How You Can Stop It". Substack. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. The bill would enforce monitoring of anyone under the age of seventeen and give state attorneys general the power to censor content.
  20. ↑ Philips, Sarah (July 27, 2023). "This Bill Threatens Access to LGBTQ+ Online Communities". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. Like SESTA/FOSTA, KOSA creates the aforementioned duty of care for social media companies, giving state attorneys general the power to sue sites like Instagram or Twitter if they put up content they deem "harmful" for kids and teens. With SESTA/FOSTA, we saw that tech companies preferred to shut down already-policed content about reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ identities, and sex education than risk a lawsuit.
  21. 1 2 Feiner, Lauren (February 15, 2024). "Kids Online Safety Act gains enough supporters to pass the Senate". The Verge . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  22. ↑ Eckert, Jared (March 21, 2022). "How Not To Keep Children Safe Online". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  23. ↑ Philips, Sarah (July 27, 2023). "This Bill Threatens Access to LGBTQ+ Online Communities". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. KOSA's supporters might want to ignore the fact that it's a censorship bill in disguise, but the Heritage Foundation is saying the quiet part out loud. The hard-line conservative organization has openly said KOSA will help them censor the content conservatives don't want young people to have access to.
  24. ↑ "S.1409". Congress.gov. May 2, 2023. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023. Sec 3.b.2: the covered platform or individuals on the platform from providing resources for the prevention or mitigation of suicidal behaviors, substance use, and other harms, including evidence-informed information and clinical resources.
  25. ↑ Molloy, Parker (July 27, 2023). "Congress is About to Pass a Very Bad Internet Bill. Here's How You Can Stop It". Substack. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. (In a block quote from Evan Greer) The phrase "consistent with evidence-informed medical information" does nothing to prevent that, because AGs can always find cherry-picked studies to support their wild claims. They're doing this right now. In his "emergency" order attempting to ban gender-affirming care, Missouri's attorney general cited a Swedish study that claims there is a lack of evidence to support the efficacy and safety of gender-affirming care. There is no legal definition of "evidence-based." Those are just words. This bill will absolutely allow AGs to go after platforms for recommending speech they don't like to younger users. Tying the duty of care to specific mental health outcomes is also problematic because it will lead to suppression of all discussion around those important but controversial topics.
  26. ↑ "Why Is Critical Race Theory Dangerous For Our Kids?". U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. July 12, 2021. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. While parents struggle to help their children manage the mental and emotional damage inflicted by this dangerous ideology, the left will continue to re-write our education system to fit their woke agenda—and they won't stop until CRT is in every classroom in America. I will gladly stand with Tennessee parents to demand an end to this latest, unhinged attempt to brainwash our nation's children.
  27. ↑ "Senator appears to suggest bipartisan bill would censor transgender content online". NBC. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  28. ↑ Kelley, Jason (May 2, 2023). "The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. KOSA's co-author, Sen. Blackburn of Tennessee, has referred to education about race discrimination as "dangerous for kids." Many states have agreed and recently moved to limit public education about the history of race, gender, and sexuality discrimination.
  29. 1 2 Latieves, Matt (September 5, 2023). "Senator appeared to suggest bipartisan bill would censor transgender content online". NBC News . Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  30. ↑ Kane, Christopher (February 15, 2024). "LGBTQ groups drop opposition to Kids Online Safety Act". Washington Blade . Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  31. ↑ Silberling, Amanda (February 15, 2024). "Lawmakers revise Kids Online Safety Act to address LGBTQ advocates' concerns". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  32. ↑ Kelley, Jason; Mackey, Aaron; Mullin, Joe (February 15, 2024). "Don't Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  33. ↑ Feiner, Lauren (February 29, 2024). "Passing the Kids Online Safety Act just got more complicated". The Verge. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.