Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), my good friend who is the author and chairman
of the subcommittee who has worked tirelessly on this piece of
legislation.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in strong in
support of H.R. 7757, the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, or the
KIDS Act.
  This package will finally give parents real tools to protect their
kids online. A key provision in the KIDS Act is my Kids Online Safety
Act, or KOSA. I have been working on KOSA, Mr. Speaker, for 3 years,
and I am proud to see it finally reach the House floor.
  The need for action has never been clearer. Nearly half of American
teenagers say they are online almost constantly, about half spend 4 or
more hours a day on screens for leisure, and 95 percent have a
smartphone in their pocket, placing them in a digital environment that
too often prioritizes engagement and profit over safety.
  Big Tech platforms are not neutral. Their algorithms are designed to
maximize attention, not protect kids.
  Mr. Speaker, kids are pushed toward harmful content, targeted by
predatory actors, and funneled into design features built to keep them
scrolling longer.
  Families across the country have paid the price, Mr. Speaker, from
exploitation and harassment to content that fuels anxiety, depression,
eating disorders, and self-harm, unfortunately. That is why this bill
and KOSA, in particular, are so very important.
  It establishes clear, targeted obligations for large online platforms
to take steps to prevent and mitigate specific harms to minors.
  It focuses on addressing documented risks, such as sexual
exploitation, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and self-harm
content that can be amplified through algorithmic recommendation
systems and engagement-driven design.
  KOSA requires platforms to put in place concrete safeguards, limiting
harmful design features, improving transparency around how systems
impact children, and giving parents strong tools to understand and
manage their children's online experiences.
  It also ensures Big Tech is held accountable for their decisions
through FTC enforcement and State attorneys general.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full committee and the
excellent staff. We never gave up. We persevered, and we have a good
product, thanks to them.
  I thank the ranking member as well, Mr. Pallone, and Ms. Castor, for
working with me on this piece of legislation. Again, the chairman gives
me credit, but he is responsible as well. The goal is to protect the
kids, and I appreciate all the input from the parents over the years.
  Mr. Speaker, let's get this across the finish line and protect our
children.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Virginia (Ms. McClellan), a member of our committee.
  Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7757, the
bipartisan Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, or the KIDS Act.
  As a member of Gen X, who is a mom to a Gen Z teen and Gen Alpha
tween, I struggle every day to find the balance between giving our kids
the freedom they need to develop and grow and keeping them safe. I see
every day that the digital world kids face today is unlike anything
previous generations have faced before.
  Every day innovators launch new technologies, applications, and
online platforms that create incredible opportunities for learning,
creativity, and connection. Those same innovations also create new
opportunities for those who would do our kids harm. New risks for
invasive data collection, cyberbullying, online exploitation, and
harmful content.
  It is much harder for parents or other trusted adults today to
protect kids from these harms that they often don't see in an ecosystem
they often don't understand.
  It is past time for Congress to act before more children are put at
risk. We are probably 20 years too late. We can't wait anymore.
  The KIDS Act closes critical gaps in Federal law by strengthening
privacy protections for children and teens; banning targeted
advertising to minors; limiting unnecessary data collection, giving
parents and teens greater control over personal information; increasing
transparency for data brokers; and requiring online platforms to
implement stronger default safety tools that reduce harmful
interactions. Notably, it preserves every State's ability to go even
further.
  While this package does not include everything that we would like to
see, we cannot let the perfect become the enemy of the good, and this
bill is a critical first step.
  Our children deserve to enjoy the benefits of technology without
sacrificing their privacy, their safety, or mental health.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Pallone and Chairman Guthrie for
bringing Democrats and Republicans on the committee together to produce
this significant bipartisan legislation at a time when most people
believe bipartisanship is dead.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks), a good friend who is a fantastic member of
our committee and has worked hard on these issues protecting children.
  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Guthrie, who has
done a fabulous job of shepherding this through the Committee on Energy
and Commerce in a bipartisan manner.
  Protecting children and teens online is one of the most urgent
responsibilities we face as policymakers. As digital platforms become
central to how young people learn, communicate, innovate, and navigate
the world, we must ensure that these spaces are safe, transparent, and
designed with their well-being as the driving priority.
  My bill, the SPY Kids Act, included in title II of the KIDS Act,
takes an important step toward that goal by prohibiting online
platforms from conducting market research or product-focused research
on children under 13 and by requiring verifiable parental consent
before such research can be conducted on teenagers.

  The bill applies to user-generated content platforms that use
engagement-driven design features and personal data to tailor ads or
recommendations, such as social media

companies and social gaming platforms.
  This legislation matters because the online environment our kids
encounter today is fundamentally different from anything previous
generations experienced.
  Platforms are engineered to capture attention, collect sensitive
information, shape behavior, force content, and it is in ways that
young users may not recognize or be able to navigate safely.
  Children and teens should not be profiled, studied, or targeted for
commercial advantage, especially without parental oversight.
  By limiting how platforms can analyze and monetize minors' data, the
SPY Kids Act helps reduce the risk of manipulative marketing practices,
strengthens privacy protections, and reinforces the principle that the
well-being of America's youth must come before the business models of
technology companies.
  Our goal is simple: to build an online ecosystem where children can
grow, learn, innovate, and connect without being exploited in the
process.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan), a member of our committee.
  Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding and
for his strong leadership on this vitally important issue.
  When I joined the Energy and Commerce Committee 6 years ago, I
committed to doing everything in my power to make the internet a safer
place for my children, my two young daughters, specifically.
  In the years since, I have sat in hearing after hearing where we have
talked about doing something to deliver on that promise.
  I met with parents who have lived every family's worst nightmare,
parents whose children harmed themselves and even ended their lives
because executives in Silicon Valley cared more about their stock price
than the safety of our children.
  I looked those parents in the eye. I cried with them as they told
their story. Then I went home to have hard conversations with my two
girls about how the apps they use, Instagram, TikTok, and others, are
engineered to make them doubt their image and question their worth.
  For years, this crisis has gone unanswered, decades at this point.
Our children have been left to navigate one of the most powerful and
manipulative technologies ever built, and they have been left to do it
alone.