I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7891 

To protect the safety of children on the internet. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2024 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. HOUCHIN, Ms. 

SCHRIER, and Mr. BUCSHON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To protect the safety of children on the internet. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Kids Online Safety Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—KIDS ONLINE SAFETY 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Duty of care. 


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Sec. 103. Safeguards for minors. 

Sec. 104. Disclosure. 

Sec. 105. Transparency. 

Sec. 106. Research on social media and minors. 

Sec. 107. Market research. 

Sec. 108. Age verification study and report. 

Sec. 109. Guidance. 

Sec. 110. Enforcement. 

Sec. 111. Kids Online Safety Council. 

Sec. 112. Effective date. 

Sec. 113. Rules of construction and other matters. 

Sec. 114. Severability. 

TITLE II—FILTER BUBBLE TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Requirement to allow users to see unmanipulated content on internet 

platforms. 

Sec. 203. Severability. 

TITLE III—RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAWS 

Sec. 301. Relationship to State laws. 

1 TITLE I—KIDS ONLINE SAFETY 

2 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

3 In this title: 

4 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi5 vidual who is under the age of 13. 

6 (2) COMPULSIVE USAGE.—The term ‘‘compul7 sive usage’’ means any response stimulated by exter8 nal factors that causes an individual to engage in re9 petitive behavior reasonably likely to cause a mental 

10 health disorder. 

11 (3) COVERED PLATFORM.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

13 platform’’ means an online platform, online 

14 video game, messaging application, or video 

15 streaming service that connects to the internet 


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1 and that is used, or is reasonably likely to be 

2 used, by a minor. 

3 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 platform’’ does not include— 

5 (i) an entity acting in its capacity as 

6 a provider of— 

7 (I) a common carrier service sub8 ject to the Communications Act of 

9 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and all 

10 Acts amendatory thereof and supple11 mentary thereto; 

12 (II) a broadband internet access 

13 service (as such term is defined for 

14 purposes of section 8.1(b) of title 47, 

15 Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

16 successor regulation); 

17 (III) an email service; 

18 (IV) a teleconferencing or video 

19 conferencing service that allows recep20 tion and transmission of audio or 

21 video signals for real-time communica22 tion, provided that— 

23 (aa) the service is not an on24 line platform, including a social 


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1 media service or social network; 

2 and 

3 (bb) the real-time commu4 nication is initiated by using a 

5 unique link or identifier to facili6 tate access; or 

7 (V) a wireless messaging service, 

8 including such a service provided 

9 through short messaging service or 

10 multimedia messaging service proto11 cols, that is not a component of, or 

12 linked to, an online platform and 

13 where the predominant or exclusive 

14 function is direct messaging consisting 

15 of the transmission of text, photos or 

16 videos that are sent by electronic 

17 means, where messages are trans18 mitted from the sender to a recipient, 

19 and are not posted within an online 

20 platform or publicly; 

21 (ii) an organization not organized to 

22 carry on business for its own profit or that 

23 of its members; 

24 (iii) any public or private preschool, 

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1 stitution of vocational, professional, or 

2 higher education; 

3 (iv) a library (as defined in section 

4 213(1) of the Library Services and Tech5 nology Act (20 U.S.C. 9122(1))); 

6 (v) a news or sports news and cov7 erage website or app where— 

8 (I) the inclusion of video content 

9 on the website or app is related to the 

10 website or app’s own gathering, re11 porting, or publishing of news content 

12 or sports news and coverage; and 

13 (II) the website or app is not 

14 otherwise an online platform; 

15 (vi) a product or service that pri16 marily functions as business-to-business 

17 software, a cloud storage, file sharing, or 

18 file collaboration service, provided that the 

19 product or service is not an online plat20 form; or 

21 (vii) a virtual private network or simi22 lar service that exists solely to route inter23 net traffic between locations. 

24 (4) DESIGN FEATURE.—The term ‘‘design fea25 ture’’ means any feature or component of a covered 


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1 platform that will encourage or increase the fre2 quency, time spent, or activity of minors on the cov3 ered platform. Design features include, but are not 

4 limited to— 

5 (A) infinite scrolling or auto play; 

6 (B) rewards for time spent on the plat7 form; 

8 (C) notifications; 

9 (D) push alerts that urge a user to spend 

10 more time engaged with the platform when they 

11 are not actively using it; 

12 (E) badges or other visual award symbols 

13 based on elevated levels of engagement with the 

14 platform; 

15 (F) personalized recommendation systems; 

16 (G) in-game purchases; or 

17 (H) appearance altering filters. 

18 (5) HIGH IMPACT ONLINE COMPANY.—The 

19 term ‘‘high impact online company’’ means an online 

20 platform or online video game that provides any 

21 internet-accessible platform where— 

22 (A) such online platform or online video 

23 game generates $2,500,000,000 or more in an24 nual revenue, including the revenue generated 

25 by any affiliate of such covered platform; or 


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1 (B) such online platform or online video 

2 game has 150,000,000 or more global monthly 

3 active users for not fewer than 3 of the pre4 ceding 12 months on the online product or serv5 ice of such covered platform; and 

6 (C) such online platform or online video 

7 game constitutes an online product or service 

8 that is primarily used by users to access or 

9 share, user-generated content. 

10 (6) KNOW; KNOWS.—The term ‘‘know’’ or 

11 ‘‘knows’’ means— 

12 (A) with respect to a high impact online 

13 company, the platform knew or should have 

14 known the individual was a child or minor; 

15 (B) with respect to a covered platform that 

16 had an annual gross revenue of $200,000,000 

17 or more, collects the personal information of 

18 200,000 individuals or more, and does not meet 

19 the qualifications of subparagraph (A), that 

20 covered platform knew or acted in willful dis21 regard of the fact that the individual was a 

22 child or minor; and 

23 (C) with respect to a covered platform that 

24 does not meet the requirements of subpara25 graph (A) or (B), actual knowledge. 


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1 (7) MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘mental health disorder’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term ‘‘mental disorder’’ in the Diagnostic and Sta4 tistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 5th Edi5 tion (or the most current successor edition). 

6 (8) MICROTRANSACTION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘microtrans8 action’’ means a purchase made in an online 

9 video game (including a purchase made using a 

10 virtual currency that is purchasable or redeem11 able using cash or credit or that is included as 

12 part of a paid subscription service). 

13 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Such term includes a 

14 purchase involving surprise mechanics, new 

15 characters, or in-game items. 

16 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in17 clude— 

18 (i) a purchase made in an online video 

19 game using a virtual currency that is 

20 earned through gameplay and is not other21 wise purchasable or redeemable using cash 

22 or credit or included as part of a paid sub23 scription service; or 


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1 (ii) a purchase of additional levels 

2 within the game or an overall expansion of 

3 the game. 

4 (9) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi5 vidual who is under the age of 17. 

6 (10) ONLINE PLATFORM.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘online plat8 form’’ means any public-facing website, online 

9 service, online application, or mobile application 

10 that predominantly provides a community 

11 forum for user-generated content. 

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Such term includes 

13 sharing videos, images, games, audio files, or 

14 other content, including a social media service, 

15 social network, or virtual reality environment. 

16 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in17 clude chats, comments, or other interactive 

18 functionalities of the community forum that is 

19 incidental to the predominant purpose of the 

20 website, online service, online application, or 

21 mobile application. 

22 (11) ONLINE VIDEO GAME.—The term ‘‘online 

23 video game’’ means a video game, including an edu24 cational video game, that connects to the internet 

25 and that allows a user to— 


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1 (A) create and upload content other than 

2 content that is incidental to gameplay, such as 

3 character or level designs created by the user, 

4 preselected phrases, or short interactions with 

5 other users; 

6 (B) engage in microtransactions within the 

7 game; or 

8 (C) communicate with other users. 

9 (12) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 

10 meaning given that term in section 1302 of the Chil11 dren’s Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 6501). 

13 (13) PERSONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘personal 

14 data’’ has the same meaning as the term ‘‘personal 

15 information’’ as defined in section 1302 of the Chil16 dren’s Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 6501). 

18 (14) PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYS19 TEM.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘personalized 

21 recommendation system’’ means a fully or par22 tially automated system used to suggest, pro23 mote, rank, or recommend content, including 

24 other users, hashtags, or posts, based on the 

25 personal data of users. 


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1 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘personal2 ized recommendation system’’ does not in3 clude— 

4 (i) systems that suggests, promotes, 

5 or ranks content based solely on the user’s 

6 language, city or town, or age; 

7 (ii) technical means that do not fully 

8 automate or replace human decision-mak9 ing processes; 

10 (iii) technical means that are designed 

11 to block, detect, identify, or prevent a user 

12 from accessing inappropriate, unlawful, or 

13 harmful content; or 

14 (iv) technical means designed to pre15 vent or detect fraud, malicious conduct or 

16 other illegal activity, or preserve the integ17 rity or security of systems, products, or 

18 services. 

19 (15) SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE.—The 

20 term ‘‘sexual exploitation and abuse’’ means any of 

21 the following: 

22 (A) Coercion and enticement, as described 

23 in section 2422 of title 18, United States Code. 


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1 (B) Child sexual abuse material, as de2 scribed in sections 2251, 2252, 2252A, and 

3 2260 of title 18, United States Code. 

4 (C) Trafficking for the production of im5 ages, as described in section 2251A of title 18, 

6 United States Code. 

7 (D) Sex trafficking of children, as de8 scribed in section 1591 of title 18, United 

9 States Code. 

10 (16) USER.—The term ‘‘user’’ means, with re11 spect to a covered platform, an individual who reg12 isters an account or creates a profile on the covered 

13 platform. 

14 SEC. 102. DUTY OF CARE. 

15 (a) PREVENTION OF HARM TO MINORS.—A high im16 pact online company shall exercise reasonable care in the 

17 creation and implementation of any design feature to pre18 vent and mitigate the following harms to minors: 

19 (1) Consistent with evidence-informed medical 

20 information, the following mental health disorders: 

21 anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use 

22 disorders, and suicidal behaviors. 

23 (2) Patterns of use that indicate or encourage 

24 compulsive usage by minors. 


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1 (3) Physical violence (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 

2 16), cyberbullying and discriminatory harassment of 

3 a minor. 

4 (4) Sexual exploitation and abuse of minors. 

5 (5) Promotion and marketing of narcotic drugs 

6 (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Sub7 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, 

8 gambling, or alcohol. 

9 (b) LIMITATION.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall be 

10 construed to require a high impact online company to pre11 vent or preclude— 

12 (1) any minor from deliberately and independ13 ently searching for, or specifically requesting, con14 tent; or 

15 (2) the high impact online company or individ16 uals on the platform from providing resources for 

17 the prevention or mitigation of the harms described 

18 in subsection (a), including evidence-informed infor19 mation and clinical resources. 

20 SEC. 103. SAFEGUARDS FOR MINORS. 

21 (a) SAFEGUARDS FOR MINORS.— 

22 (1) SAFEGUARDS.—A covered platform shall 

23 provide a user or visitor that the covered platform 

24 knows is a minor with readily accessible and easy25 to-use safeguards to, as applicable— 


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1 (A) limit the ability of other users or visi2 tors to communicate with the minor; 

3 (B) limit design features that encourage or 

4 increase the frequency, time spent, or activity of 

5 minors on the covered platform, such as infinite 

6 scrolling, auto playing, rewards for time spent 

7 on the platform, notifications, badges, push 

8 alerts, and other interactive elements that re9 sult in compulsive usage of the covered platform 

10 by the minor; and 

11 (C) control personalized recommendation 

12 systems, including the ability for a minor to 

13 have— 

14 (i) the option of opting out of such 

15 personalized recommendation systems, 

16 while still allowing the display of content 

17 based on a chronological format; 

18 (ii) the option of limiting types or cat19 egories of recommendations from such sys20 tems; or 

21 (iii) both such options. 

22 (2) OPTIONS.—A covered platform shall provide 

23 a user that the covered platform knows is a minor 

24 with readily accessible and easy-to-use options to 


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1 limit the amount of time spent by the minor on the 

2 covered platform. 

3 (3) DEFAULT SAFEGUARD SETTINGS FOR MI4 NORS.—A covered platform shall provide that, in the 

5 case of a user or visitor that the platform knows is 

6 a minor, the default setting for any safeguard de7 scribed under paragraph (1) shall be the option 

8 available on the platform that provides the most pro9 tective level of control that is offered by the platform 

10 over safety for that user or visitor, unless otherwise 

11 enabled by the parent. 

12 (b) PARENTAL TOOLS.— 

13 (1) TOOLS.—A covered platform shall provide 

14 readily accessible and easy-to-use settings for par15 ents to support a user that the platform knows is a 

16 minor with respect to the user’s use of the platform. 

17 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The parental tools pro18 vided by a covered platform shall include— 

19 (A) the ability to manage a minor’s ac20 count settings, including the safeguards and op21 tions established under subsection (a), in a 

22 manner that allows parents to— 

23 (i) view the account settings; and 


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1 (ii) in the case of a user that the plat2 form knows is a child, change and control 

3 the account settings; 

4 (B) the ability to restrict purchases and fi5 nancial transactions by the minor, where appli6 cable; and 

7 (C) the ability to view metrics of total time 

8 spent on the covered platform and restrict time 

9 spent on the covered platform by the minor. 

10 (3) NOTICE TO MINORS.—A covered platform 

11 shall provide clear and conspicuous notice to a user 

12 when the tools described in this subsection are in ef13 fect and what settings or controls have been applied. 

14 (4) DEFAULT TOOLS.—A covered platform shall 

15 provide that, in the case of a user that the platform 

16 knows is a child, the tools required under paragraph 

17 (1) shall be enabled by default. 

18 (5) APPLICATION TO EXISTING ACCOUNTS.—If, 

19 prior to the effective date of this subsection, a cov20 ered platform provided a parent of a user that the 

21 platform knows is a child with notice and the ability 

22 to enable the parental tools described under this 

23 subsection in a manner that would otherwise comply 

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1 quired to enable such tools with respect to such user 

2 by default when this subsection takes effect. 

3 (c) REPORTING MECHANISM.— 

4 (1) REPORTS SUBMITTED BY PARENTS, MI5 NORS, AND SCHOOLS.—A covered platform shall pro6 vide— 

7 (A) a readily accessible and easy-to-use 

8 means to submit reports to the covered plat9 form of harms to a minor; 

10 (B) an electronic point of contact specific 

11 to matters involving harms to a minor; and 

12 (C) confirmation of the receipt of such a 

13 report and, within the applicable time period 

14 described in paragraph (2), a substantive re15 sponse to the individual that submitted the re16 port. 

17 (2) TIMING.—A covered platform shall establish 

18 an internal process to receive and substantively re19 spond to such reports in a reasonable and timely 

20 manner, but in no case later than— 

21 (A) 10 days after the receipt of a report, 

22 if, for the most recent calendar year, the plat23 form averaged more than 10,000,000 active 

24 users on a monthly basis in the United States; 


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1 (B) 21 days after the receipt of a report, 

2 if, for the most recent calendar year, the plat3 form averaged less than 10,000,000 active 

4 users on a monthly basis in the United States; 

5 and 

6 (C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) 

7 and (B), if the report involves an imminent 

8 threat to the safety of a minor, as promptly as 

9 needed to address the reported threat to safety. 

10 (d) ADVERTISING OF ILLEGAL PRODUCTS.—A cov11 ered platform shall not facilitate the advertising of nar12 cotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled 

13 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gam14 bling, or alcohol to an individual that the covered platform 

15 knows is a minor. 

16 (e) RULES OF APPLICATION.— 

17 (1) ACCESSIBILITY.—With respect to safe18 guards and parental tools described under sub19 sections (a) and (b), a covered platform shall pro20 vide— 

21 (A) information and control options in a 

22 clear and conspicuous manner that takes into 

23 consideration the differing ages, capacities, and 

24 developmental needs of the minors most likely 

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1 courage minors or parents to weaken or disable 

2 safeguards or parental tools; 

3 (B) readily accessible and easy-to-use con4 trols to enable or disable safeguards or parental 

5 tools, as appropriate; and 

6 (C) information and control options in the 

7 same language, form, and manner as the cov8 ered platform provides the product or service 

9 used by minors and their parents. 

10 (2) DARK PATTERNS PROHIBITION.—It shall be 

11 unlawful for any covered platform to design, embed, 

12 modify, or manipulate a user interface of a covered 

13 platform with the purpose or substantial effect of 

14 obscuring, subverting, or impairing user autonomy, 

15 decision making, or choice with respect to safe16 guards or parental tools required under this section. 

17 (3) TIMING CONSIDERATIONS.— 

18 (A) NO INTERRUPTION TO GAMEPLAY.— 

19 Subsections (a)(1)(C) and (b)(3) shall not re20 quire an online video game to interrupt the nat21 ural sequence of game play, such as progressing 

22 through game levels or finishing a competition. 

23 (B) APPLICATION OF CHANGES TO OFF24 LINE DEVICES OR ACCOUNTS.—If a user’s de25 vice or user account does not have access to the 


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1 internet at the time of a change to parental 

2 tools, a covered platform shall apply changes 

3 the next time the device or user is connected to 

4 the internet. 

5 (4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

6 this section shall be construed to— 

7 (A) prevent a covered platform from taking 

8 reasonable measures to— 

9 (i) block, detect, or prevent the dis10 tribution of unlawful, obscene, or other 

11 harmful material to minors as described in 

12 section 102(a); or 

13 (ii) block or filter spam, prevent 

14 criminal activity, or protect the security of 

15 a platform or service; 

16 (B) require the disclosure of a minor’s 

17 browsing behavior, search history, messages, 

18 contact list, or other content or metadata of 

19 their communications; 

20 (C) prevent a covered platform from using 

21 a personalized recommendation system to dis22 play content to a minor if the system only uses 

23 information on— 

24 (i) the language spoken by the minor; 

25 (ii) the city the minor is located in; or 


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1 (iii) the minor’s age; or 

2 (D) prevent an online video game from dis3 closing a username or other user identification 

4 for the purpose of competitive gameplay or to 

5 allow for the reporting of users. 

6 (f) DEVICE OR CONSOLE CONTROLS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section shall 

8 be construed to prohibit a covered platform from in9 tegrating its products or service with, or duplicate 

10 controls or tools provided by, third-party systems, 

11 including operating systems or gaming consoles, to 

12 meet the requirements imposed under subsections 

13 (a) and (b) relating to safeguards for minors and 

14 parental tools, provided that— 

15 (A) the controls or tools meet such require16 ments; and 

17 (B) the minor or parent is provided suffi18 cient notice of the integration and use of the 

19 parental tools. 

20 (2) PRESERVATION OF PROTECTIONS.—In the 

21 event of a conflict between the controls or tools of 

22 a third-party system, including operating systems or 

23 gaming consoles, and a covered platform, the cov24 ered platform is not required to override the controls 

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1 mine the protections for minors from the safeguards 

2 or parental tools imposed under subsections (a) and 

3 (b). 

4 SEC. 104. DISCLOSURE. 

5 (a) NOTICE.— 

6 (1) REGISTRATION OR PURCHASE.—Prior to 

7 registration or purchase of a covered platform by an 

8 individual that the platform knows is a minor, the 

9 platform shall provide clear, conspicuous, and easy10 to-understand— 

11 (A) notice of the policies and practices of 

12 the covered platform with respect to safeguards 

13 for minors; 

14 (B) information about how to access the 

15 safeguards and parental tools required under 

16 section 103; and 

17 (C) notice about whether the covered plat18 form uses or makes available to minors a prod19 uct, service, or design feature, including any 

20 personalized recommendation system, that 

21 poses any heightened risk of harm to minors. 

22 (2) NOTIFICATION.— 

23 (A) NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—In 

24 the case of an individual that a covered plat25 form knows is a child, the platform shall addiVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 May 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7891.IH H7891

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1 tionally provide information about the parental 

2 tools and safeguards required under section 103 

3 to a parent of the child and obtain verifiable 

4 parental consent (as defined in section 1302(9) 

5 of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 6501(9))) from the parent prior to 

7 the initial use of the covered platform by the 

8 child. 

9 (B) REASONABLE EFFORT.—A covered 

10 platform shall be deemed to have satisfied the 

11 requirement described in subparagraph (A) if 

12 the covered platform is in compliance with the 

13 requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy 

14 Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) to use 

15 reasonable efforts (taking into consideration 

16 available technology) to provide a parent with 

17 the information described in subparagraph (A) 

18 and to obtain verifiable parental consent as re19 quired. 

20 (3) CONSOLIDATED NOTICES.—For purposes of 

21 this Act, a covered platform may consolidate the 

22 process for providing information under this sub23 section and obtaining verifiable parental consent or 

24 the consent of the minor involved (as applicable) as 

25 required under this subsection with its obligations to 


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1 provide relevant notice and obtain verifiable consent 

2 under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 

4 (4) GUIDANCE.—The Federal Trade Commis5 sion may issue guidance to assist covered platforms 

6 in complying with the specific notice requirements of 

7 this subsection. 

8 (b) PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM.—A 

9 covered platform that operates a personalized rec10 ommendation system shall set out in its terms and condi11 tions, in a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand 

12 manner— 

13 (1) an overview of how such personalized rec14 ommendation system is used by the covered platform 

15 to provide information to minors; and 

16 (2) information about options for minors or 

17 their parents to opt out of or control the personal18 ized recommendation system (as applicable). 

19 (c) RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND MINORS.—A cov20 ered platform shall provide to minors and parents clear, 

21 conspicuous, easy-to-understand, and comprehensive infor22 mation in a prominent location, which may include a link 

23 to a web page, regarding— 

24 (1) its policies and practices with respect to 

25 safeguards for minors; and 


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1 (2) how to access the safeguards and tools re2 quired under section 103. 

3 (d) RESOURCES IN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES.—A 

4 covered platform shall ensure, to the extent practicable, 

5 that the disclosures required by this section are made 

6 available in the same language, form, and manner as the 

7 covered platform provides any product or service used by 

8 minors and their parents. 

9 SEC. 105. TRANSPARENCY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), not less 

11 frequently than once a year, a covered platform shall issue 

12 a public report describing the reasonably foreseeable risks 

13 of harms to minors and assessing the prevention and miti14 gation measures taken to address such risk based on an 

15 independent, third-party audit conducted through reason16 able inspection of the covered platform. 

17 (b) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—The requirements of 

18 this section shall apply to a covered platform if— 

19 (1) for the most recent calendar year, the plat20 form averaged more than 10,000,000 active users on 

21 a monthly basis in the United States; and 

22 (2) the platform predominantly provides a com23 munity forum for user-generated content and discus24 sion, including sharing videos, images, games, audio 

25 files, discussion in a virtual setting, or other content, 


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1 such as acting as a social media platform, virtual re2 ality environment, or a social network service. 

3 (c) CONTENT.— 

4 (1) TRANSPARENCY.—The public reports re5 quired of a covered platform under this section shall 

6 include— 

7 (A) an assessment of the extent to which 

8 the platform is likely to be accessed by minors; 

9 (B) a description of the commercial inter10 ests of the covered platform in use by minors; 

11 (C) an accounting, based on the data held 

12 by the covered platform, of— 

13 (i) the number of users using the cov14 ered platform that the platform knows to 

15 be minors in the United States; 

16 (ii) the median and mean amounts of 

17 time spent on the platform by users known 

18 to be minors in the United States who 

19 have accessed the platform during the re20 porting year on a daily, weekly, and 

21 monthly basis; and 

22 (iii) the amount of content being 

23 accessed by users that the platform knows 

24 to be minors in the United States that is 

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1 guages used by users accessing the plat2 form in the United States; 

3 (D) an accounting of total reports received 

4 regarding, and the prevalence (which can be 

5 based on scientifically valid sampling methods 

6 using the content available to the covered plat7 form in the normal course of business) of con8 tent related to, the harms described in section 

9 102(a), disaggregated by category of harm and 

10 language, including English and the top 5 non11 English languages used by users accessing the 

12 platform from the United States (as identified 

13 under subparagraph (C)(iii)); and 

14 (E) a description of any material breaches 

15 of parental tools or assurances regarding mi16 nors, and other matters regarding non-compli17 ance with this Act. 

18 (2) REASONABLY FORESEEABLE RISK OF HARM

19 TO MINORS.—The public reports required of a cov20 ered platform under this section shall include— 

21 (A) an assessment of the reasonably fore22 seeable risk of harms to minors posed by the 

23 covered platform, specifically identifying those 

24 physical, mental, developmental, or financial 

25 harms described in section 102(a); 


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1 (B) a description of whether and how the 

2 covered platform uses design features that en3 courage or increase the frequency, time spent, 

4 or activity of minors on the covered platform, 

5 such as infinite scrolling, auto playing, rewards 

6 for time spent on the platform, notifications, 

7 and other design features that result in compul8 sive usage of the covered platform by the minor; 

9 (C) a description of whether, how, and for 

10 what purpose the platform collects or processes 

11 categories of personal data that may cause rea12 sonably foreseeable risk of harms to minors; 

13 (D) an evaluation of the efficacy of safe14 guards for minors and parental tools under sec15 tion 103, and any issues in delivering such safe16 guards and the associated parental tools; 

17 (E) an evaluation of any other relevant 

18 matters of public concern over risk of harms to 

19 minors associated with the use of the covered 

20 platform; and 

21 (F) an assessment of differences in risk of 

22 harm to minors across different English and 

23 non-English languages and efficacy of safe24 guards in those languages. 


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1 (3) MITIGATION.—The public reports required 

2 of a covered platform under this section shall in3 clude, for English and the top 5 non-English lan4 guages used by users accessing the platform from 

5 the United States (as identified under paragraph 

6 (2)(C)(iii))— 

7 (A) a description of the safeguards and pa8 rental tools available to minors and parents on 

9 the covered platform; 

10 (B) a description of interventions by the 

11 covered platform when it had or has reason to 

12 believe that harms to minors could occur; 

13 (C) a description of the prevention and 

14 mitigation measures intended to be taken in re15 sponse to the known and emerging risks identi16 fied in its assessment of reasonably foreseeable 

17 risks of harms to minors, including steps taken 

18 to— 

19 (i) prevent harms to minors, including 

20 adapting or removing design features or 

21 addressing through parental tools; 

22 (ii) provide the most protective level of 

23 control over safety by default; and 

24 (iii) adapt recommendation systems to 

25 mitigate reasonably foreseeable risk of 


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1 harms to minors, as described in section 

2 102(a); 

3 (D) a description of internal processes for 

4 handling reports and automated detection 

5 mechanisms for harms to minors, including the 

6 rate, timeliness, and effectiveness of responses 

7 under the requirement of section 103(c); 

8 (E) the status of implementing prevention 

9 and mitigation measures identified in prior as10 sessments; and 

11 (F) a description of the additional meas12 ures to be taken by the covered platform to ad13 dress the circumvention of safeguards for mi14 nors and parental tools. 

15 (d) REASONABLE INSPECTION.—In conducting an in16 spection of the reasonably foreseeable risk of harm to mi17 nors under this section, an independent, third-party audi18 tor shall— 

19 (1) take into consideration the function of per20 sonalized recommendation systems; 

21 (2) consult parents and youth experts, including 

22 youth and families with relevant past or current ex23 perience, public health and mental health nonprofit 

24 organizations, health and development organizations, 


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1 and civil society with respect to the prevention of 

2 harms to minors; 

3 (3) conduct research based on experiences of 

4 minors that use the covered platform, including re5 ports under section 103(c) and information provided 

6 by law enforcement; 

7 (4) take account of research, including research 

8 regarding design features, marketing, or product in9 tegrity, industry best practices, or outside research; 

10 (5) consider indicia or inferences of age of 

11 users, in addition to any self-declared information 

12 about the age of users; and 

13 (6) take into consideration differences in risk of 

14 reasonably foreseeable harms and effectiveness of 

15 safeguards across English and non-English lan16 guages. 

17 (e) COOPERATION WITH INDEPENDENT, THIRD18 PARTY AUDIT.—To facilitate the report required by sub19 section (c), a covered platform shall— 

20 (1) provide or otherwise make available to the 

21 independent third-party conducting the audit all in22 formation and material in its possession, custody, or 

23 control that is relevant to the audit; 

24 (2) provide or otherwise make available to the 

25 independent third-party conducting the audit access 


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1 to all network, systems, and assets relevant to the 

2 audit; and 

3 (3) disclose all relevant facts to the independent 

4 third-party conducting the audit, and not misrepre5 sent in any manner, expressly or by implication, any 

6 relevant fact. 

7 (f) PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In issuing the public reports 

9 required under this section, a covered platform shall 

10 take steps to safeguard the privacy of its users, in11 cluding ensuring that data is presented in a de-iden12 tified, aggregated format such that it is not reason13 ably linkable to any user. 

14 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section 

15 shall not be construed to require the disclosure of in16 formation that will lead to material vulnerabilities 

17 for the privacy of users or the security of a covered 

18 platform’s service or create a significant risk of the 

19 violation of Federal or State law. 

20 (3) DEFINITION OF DE-IDENTIFIED.—As used 

21 in this subsection, the term ‘‘de-identified’’ means 

22 data that does not identify and is not linked or rea23 sonably linkable to a device that is linked or reason24 ably linkable to an individual, regardless of whether 

25 the information is aggregated. 


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1 (g) LOCATION.—The public reports required under 

2 this section should be posted by a covered platform on an 

3 easy to find location on a publicly available website. 

4 SEC. 106. RESEARCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND MINORS. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

8 (2) NATIONAL ACADEMY.—The term ‘‘National 

9 Academy’’ means the National Academy of Sciences. 

10 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

12 (b) RESEARCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA HARMS.—Not 

13 later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act, the Commission shall seek to enter into a contract 

15 with the National Academy, under which the National 

16 Academy shall conduct no less than 5 scientific, com17 prehensive studies and reports on the risk of harms to mi18 nors by use of social media and other online platforms, 

19 including in English and non-English languages. 

20 (c) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—In contracting 

21 with the National Academy, the Commission, in consulta22 tion with the Secretary, shall seek to commission separate 

23 studies and reports, using the Commission’s authority 

24 under section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

25 (15 U.S.C. 46(b)), on the relationship between social 


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1 media and other online platforms as defined in this Act 

2 on the following matters: 

3 (1) Anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and 

4 suicidal behaviors. 

5 (2) Substance use disorders and the use of nar6 cotic drugs, tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol 

7 by minors. 

8 (3) Sexual exploitation and abuse. 

9 (4) Addiction-like use of social media and de10 sign factors that lead to unhealthy and harmful 

11 overuse of social media. 

12 (d) ADDITIONAL STUDY.—Not earlier than 4 years 

13 after enactment, the Commission shall seek to enter into 

14 a contract with the National Academy under which the 

15 National Academy shall conduct an additional study and 

16 report covering the matters described in subsection (c) for 

17 the purposes of providing additional information, consid18 ering new research, and other matters. 

19 (e) CONTENT OF REPORTS.—The comprehensive 

20 studies and reports conducted pursuant to this section 

21 shall seek to evaluate impacts and advance understanding, 

22 knowledge, and remedies regarding the harms to minors 

23 posed by social media and other online platforms, and may 

24 include recommendations related to public policy. 


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1 (f) ACTIVE STUDIES.—If the National Academy is 

2 engaged in any active studies on the matters described in 

3 subsection (c) at the time that it enters into a contract 

4 with the Commission to conduct a study under this sec5 tion, it may base the study to be conducted under this 

6 section on the active study, so long as it otherwise incor7 porates the requirements of this section. 

8 (g) COLLABORATION.—In designing and conducting 

9 the studies under this section, the Commission, the Sec10 retary, and the National Academy shall consult with the 

11 Surgeon General and the Kids Online Safety Council. 

12 (h) ACCESS TO DATA.— 

13 (1) FACT-FINDING AUTHORITY.—The Commis14 sion may issue orders under section 6(b) of the Fed15 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46(b)) to re16 quire covered platforms to provide reports, data, or 

17 answers in writing as necessary to conduct the stud18 ies required under this section. 

19 (2) SCOPE.—In exercising its authority under 

20 paragraph (1), the Commission may issue orders to 

21 no more than 5 covered platforms per study under 

22 this section. 

23 (3) CONFIDENTIAL ACCESS.—Notwithstanding 

24 section 6(f) or 21 of the Federal Trade Commission 

25 Act (15 U.S.C. 46, 57b–2), the Commission shall 


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1 enter in agreements with the National Academy to 

2 share appropriate information received from a cov3 ered platform pursuant to an order under such sub4 section (b) for a comprehensive study under this sec5 tion in a confidential and secure manner, and to 

6 prohibit the disclosure or sharing of such informa7 tion by the National Academy. Nothing in this para8 graph shall be construed to preclude the disclosure 

9 of any such information if authorized or required by 

10 any other law. 

11 SEC. 107. MARKET RESEARCH. 

12 (a) MARKET RESEARCH BY COVERED PLATFORMS.— 

13 The Federal Trade Commission, in consultation with the 

14 Secretary of Commerce, shall issue guidance for covered 

15 platforms seeking to conduct market- and product-focused 

16 research on minors. Such guidance shall include— 

17 (1) a standard consent form that provides mi18 nors and their parents a clear, conspicuous, and 

19 easy-to-understand explanation of the scope and pur20 pose of the research to be conducted that is available 

21 in English and the top 5 non-English languages 

22 used in the United States; 

23 (2) information on how to obtain informed con24 sent from the parent of a minor prior to conducting 

25 such market- and product-focused research; and 


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1 (3) recommendations for research practices for 

2 studies that may include minors, disaggregated by 

3 the age ranges of 0–5, 6–9, 10–12, and 13–16. 

4 (b) TIMING.—The Federal Trade Commission shall 

5 issue such guidance not later than 18 months after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act. In doing so, they shall seek 

7 input from members of the public and the representatives 

8 of the Kids Online Safety Council established under sec9 tion 111. 

10 SEC. 108. AGE VERIFICATION STUDY AND REPORT. 

11 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Commerce, in coordi12 nation with the Federal Communications Commission and 

13 Federal Trade Commission, shall conduct a study evalu14 ating the most technologically feasible methods and op15 tions for developing systems to verify age at the device 

16 or operating system level. 

17 (b) CONTENTS.—Such study shall consider— 

18 (1) the benefits of creating a device or oper19 ating system level age verification system; 

20 (2) what information may need to be collected 

21 to create this type of age verification system; 

22 (3) the accuracy of such systems and their im23 pact or steps to improve accessibility, including for 

24 individuals with disabilities; 


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1 (4) how such a system or systems could verify 

2 age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data 

3 security and safeguarding minors’ personal data, 

4 emphasizing minimizing the amount of data col5 lected and processed by covered platforms and age 

6 verification providers for such a system; 

7 (5) the technical feasibility, including the need 

8 for potential hardware and software changes, includ9 ing for devices currently in commerce and owned by 

10 consumers; and 

11 (6) the impact of different age verification sys12 tems on competition, particularly the risk of dif13 ferent age verification systems creating barriers to 

14 entry for small companies. 

15 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, the agencies described in sub17 section (a) shall submit a report containing the results of 

18 the study conducted under such subsection to the Com19 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

20 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

21 the House of Representatives. 

22 SEC. 109. GUIDANCE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

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1 mission, in consultation with the Kids Online Safety Coun2 cil established under section 111, shall issue guidance to— 

3 (1) provide information and examples for cov4 ered platforms and auditors regarding, with consid5 eration given to differences across English and non6 English languages— 

7 (A) identifying design features that en8 courage or increase the frequency, time spent, 

9 or activity of minors on the covered platform; 

10 (B) safeguarding minors against the pos11 sible misuse of parental tools; 

12 (C) best practices in providing minors and 

13 parents the most protective level of control over 

14 safety; 

15 (D) using indicia or inferences of age of 

16 users for assessing use of the covered platform 

17 by minors; 

18 (E) methods for evaluating the efficacy of 

19 safeguards set forth in this Act; and 

20 (F) providing additional parental tool op21 tions that allow parents to address the harms 

22 described in section 102(a); and 

23 (2) outline conduct that does not have the pur24 pose or substantial effect of subverting or impairing 

25 user autonomy, decision making, or choice, or of 


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1 causing, increasing, or encouraging compulsive usage 

2 for a minor, such as— 

3 (A) de minimis user interface changes de4 rived from testing consumer preferences, includ5 ing different styles, layouts, or text, where such 

6 changes are not done with the purpose of weak7 ening or disabling safeguards or parental tools; 

8 and 

9 (B) establishing default settings that pro10 vide enhanced protection to users or otherwise 

11 enhance their autonomy and decision-making 

12 ability. 

13 (b) GUIDANCE TO SCHOOLS.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary of Education, in consultation with the Federal 

16 Trade Commission and the Kids Online Safety Council es17 tablished under section 111, shall issue guidance to assist 

18 elementary and secondary schools in using the notice, safe19 guards and tools provided under this Act and providing 

20 information on online safety for students and teachers. 

21 (c) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

22 GUIDANCE.— 

23 (1) EFFECT OF GUIDANCE.—No guidance 

24 issued by the Federal Trade Commission with re25 spect to this Act shall— 


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1 (A) confer any rights on any person, State, 

2 or locality; or 

3 (B) operate to bind the Federal Trade 

4 Commission or any court, person, State, or lo5 cality to the approach recommended in such 

6 guidance. 

7 (2) USE IN ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—In any 

8 enforcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the 

9 Federal Trade Commission or a State attorney gen10 eral, as applicable— 

11 (A) shall allege a violation of a provision of 

12 this Act; and 

13 (B) may not base such enforcement action 

14 on, or execute a consent order based on, prac15 tices that are alleged to be inconsistent with 

16 guidance issued by the Federal Trade Commis17 sion with respect to this Act, unless the prac18 tices are alleged to violate a provision of this 

19 Act. 

20 SEC. 110. ENFORCEMENT. 

21 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS22 SION.— 

23 (1) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC24 TICES.—A violation of this Act shall be treated as 

25 a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive 


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1 act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) 

2 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

4 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

6 Commission (referred to in this section as the 

7 ‘‘Commission’’) shall enforce this Act in the 

8 same manner, by the same means, and with the 

9 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though 

10 all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed11 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

12 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 

13 this Act. 

14 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

15 person that violates this Act shall be subject to 

16 the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and 

17 immunities, provided in the Federal Trade 

18 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

19 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 

20 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 

21 Commission under any other provision of law. 

22 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN23 ERAL.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) CIVIL ACTIONS.—In any case in which 

2 the attorney general of a State has reason to 

3 believe that a covered platform has violated or 

4 is violating section 103, 104, or 105, the State, 

5 as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on 

6 behalf of the residents of the State in a district 

7 court of the United States or a State court of 

8 appropriate jurisdiction to— 

9 (i) enjoin any practice that violates 

10 section 103, 104, or 105; 

11 (ii) enforce compliance with section 

12 103, 104, or 105; 

13 (iii) on behalf of residents of the 

14 State, obtain damages, restitution, or other 

15 compensation, each of which shall be dis16 tributed in accordance with State law; or 

17 (iv) obtain such other relief as the 

18 court may consider to be appropriate. 

19 (B) NOTICE.— 

20 (i) IN GENERAL.—Before filing an ac21 tion under subparagraph (A), the attorney 

22 general of the State involved shall provide 

23 to the Commission— 

24 (I) written notice of that action; 

25 and 


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1 (II) a copy of the complaint for 

2 that action. 

3 (ii) EXEMPTION.— 

4 (I) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) 

5 shall not apply with respect to the fil6 ing of an action by an attorney gen7 eral of a State under this paragraph 

8 if the attorney general of the State 

9 determines that it is not feasible to 

10 provide the notice described in that 

11 clause before the filing of the action. 

12 (II) NOTIFICATION.—In an ac13 tion described in subclause (I), the at14 torney general of a State shall provide 

15 notice and a copy of the complaint to 

16 the Commission at the same time as 

17 the attorney general files the action. 

18 (2) INTERVENTION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—On receiving notice 

20 under paragraph (1)(B), the Commission shall 

21 have the right to intervene in the action that is 

22 the subject of the notice. 

23 (B) EFFECT OF INTERVENTION.—If the 

24 Commission intervenes in an action under para25 graph (1), it shall have the right— 


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1 (i) to be heard with respect to any 

2 matter that arises in that action; and 

3 (ii) to file a petition for appeal. 

4 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing 

5 any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this 

6 Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney gen7 eral of a State from exercising the powers conferred 

8 on the attorney general by the laws of that State 

9 to— 

10 (A) conduct investigations; 

11 (B) administer oaths or affirmations; or 

12 (C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 

13 the production of documentary and other evi14 dence. 

15 (4) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—In any 

16 case in which an action is instituted by or on behalf 

17 of the Commission for violation of this Act, no State 

18 may, during the pendency of that action, institute a 

19 separate action under paragraph (1) against any de20 fendant named in the complaint in the action insti21 tuted by or on behalf of the Commission for that 

22 violation. 

23 (5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

24 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 

25 paragraph (1) may be brought in— 


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1 (i) the district court of the United 

2 States that meets applicable requirements 

3 relating to venue under section 1391 of 

4 title 28, United States Code; or 

5 (ii) a State court of competent juris6 diction. 

7 (B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

8 brought under paragraph (1) in a district court 

9 of the United States, process may be served 

10 wherever defendant— 

11 (i) is an inhabitant; or 

12 (ii) may be found. 

13 (6) LIMITATION.—A violation of section 102 

14 shall not form the basis of liability in any action 

15 brought by the attorney general of a State under a 

16 State law. 

17 SEC. 111. KIDS ONLINE SAFETY COUNCIL. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com20 merce shall establish and convene the Kids Online Safety 

21 Council for the purpose of providing advice on matters re22 lated to this Act. 

23 (b) PARTICIPATION.—The Kids Online Safety Coun24 cil shall include diverse participation from— 


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1 (1) academic experts, health professionals, and 

2 members of civil society with expertise in mental 

3 health, substance use disorders, and the prevention 

4 of harms to minors; 

5 (2) representatives in academia and civil society 

6 with specific expertise in privacy and civil liberties; 

7 (3) parents and youth representation; 

8 (4) representatives of covered platforms; 

9 (5) representatives of the National Tele10 communications and Information Administration, 

11 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

12 the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of 

13 Justice, and the Department of Health and Human 

14 Services; 

15 (6) State attorneys general or their designees 

16 acting in State or local government; 

17 (7) educators; and 

18 (8) representatives of communities of socially 

19 disadvantaged individuals (as defined in section 8 of 

20 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637)). 

21 (c) ACTIVITIES.—The matters to be addressed by the 

22 Kids Online Safety Council shall include— 

23 (1) identifying emerging or current risks of 

24 harms to minors associated with online platforms; 


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1 (2) recommending measures and methods for 

2 assessing, preventing, and mitigating harms to mi3 nors online; 

4 (3) recommending methods and themes for con5 ducting research regarding online harms to minors, 

6 including in English and non-English languages; and 

7 (4) recommending best practices and clear, con8 sensus-based technical standards for transparency 

9 reports and audits, as required under this Act, in10 cluding methods, criteria, and scope to promote 

11 overall accountability. 

12 (d) NON-APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Kids On13 line Safety Council shall not be subject to chapter 10 of 

14 title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 

15 ‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act’’). 

16 SEC. 112. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 Except as otherwise provided in this title, this title 

18 shall take effect on the date that is 18 months after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 113. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER MATTERS. 

21 (a) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

22 this title shall be construed to— 

23 (1) preempt section 444 of the General Edu24 cation Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly 

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1 vacy Act of 1974’’) or other Federal or State laws 

2 governing student privacy; 

3 (2) preempt the Children’s Online Privacy Pro4 tection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) or any 

5 rule or regulation promulgated under such Act; or 

6 (3) authorize any action that would conflict 

7 with section 18(h) of the Federal Trade Commission 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(h)). 

9 (b) PROTECTIONS FOR PRIVACY.—Nothing in this 

10 title shall be construed to require— 

11 (1) the affirmative collection of any personal 

12 data with respect to the age of users that a covered 

13 platform is not already collecting in the normal 

14 course of business; or 

15 (2) a covered platform to implement an age 

16 gating or age verification functionality. 

17 (c) COMPLIANCE.—Nothing in this title shall be con18 strued to restrict a covered platform’s ability to— 

19 (1) cooperate with law enforcement agencies re20 garding activity that the covered platform reasonably 

21 and in good faith believes may violate Federal, 

22 State, or local laws, rules, or regulations; 

23 (2) comply with a lawful civil, criminal, or regu24 latory inquiry, subpoena, or summons by Federal, 

25 State, local, or other government authorities; 


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1 (3) prevent, detect, protect against, or respond 

2 to security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harass3 ment, malicious or deceptive activities, or any illegal 

4 activity; preserve the integrity or security of sys5 tems; or investigate, report, or prosecute those re6 sponsible for any such action; or 

7 (4) investigate, establish, exercise, respond to, 

8 or defend against legal claims. 

9 (d) APPLICATION TO VIDEO STREAMING SERV10 ICES.—A video streaming service shall be deemed to be 

11 in compliance with this Act if it predominantly consists 

12 of news, sports, entertainment, or other video program13 ming content that is preselected by the provider and not 

14 user-generated, and— 

15 (1) any chat, comment, or interactive 

16 functionality is provided incidental to, directly re17 lated to, or dependent on provision of such content; 

18 (2) if such video streaming service requires ac19 count owner registration and is not predominantly 

20 news or sports, the service includes the capability— 

21 (A) to limit a minor’s access to the service, 

22 which may utilize a system of age-rating; 

23 (B) to limit the automatic playing of on24 demand content selected by a personalized recVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 May 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7891.IH H7891

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1 ommendation system for an individual that the 

2 service knows is a minor; 

3 (C) to provide an individual that the serv4 ice knows is a minor with readily accessible and 

5 easy-to-use options to delete an account held by 

6 the minor on the service, or, in the case of a 

7 service that allows a parent to create a profile 

8 for a minor, to allow a parent to delete the mi9 nor’s profile; 

10 (D) for a parent to manage a minor’s ac11 count settings, and restrict purchases and fi12 nancial transactions by a minor, where applica13 ble; 

14 (E) to provide an electronic point of con15 tact specific to matters described in this para16 graph; 

17 (F) to offer a clear, conspicuous, and easy18 to-understand notice of its policies and prac19 tices with respect the capabilities described in 

20 this paragraph; and 

21 (G) when providing on-demand content, to 

22 employ measures that safeguard against serving 

23 advertising for narcotic drugs (as defined in 

24 section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act 

25 (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, 


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1 or alcohol directly to the account or profile of 

2 an individual that the service knows is a minor. 

3 SEC. 114. SEVERABILITY. 

4 If any provision of this title, or an amendment made 

5 by this title, is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, 

6 the remaining provisions of this title and the amendments 

7 made by this title shall not be affected. 

8 TITLE II—FILTER BUBBLE 

9 TRANSPARENCY 

10 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this title: 

12 (1) ALGORITHMIC RANKING SYSTEM.—The 

13 term ‘‘algorithmic ranking system’’ means a com14 putational process, including one derived from algo15 rithmic decision-making, machine learning, statis16 tical analysis, or other data processing or artificial 

17 intelligence techniques, used to determine the selec18 tion, order, relative prioritization, or relative promi19 nence of content from a set of information that is 

20 provided to a user on an online platform, including 

21 the ranking of search results, the provision of con22 tent recommendations, the display of social media 

23 posts, or any other method of automated content se24 lection. 


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1 (2) APPROXIMATE GEOLOCATION INFORMA2 TION.—The term ‘‘approximate geolocation informa3 tion’’ means information that identifies the location 

4 of an individual, but with a precision of less than 5 

5 miles. 

6 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

8 (4) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘con9 nected device’’ means an electronic device that— 

10 (A) is capable of connecting to the inter11 net, either directly or indirectly through a net12 work, to communicate information at the direc13 tion of an individual; 

14 (B) has computer processing capabilities 

15 for collecting, sending, receiving, or analyzing 

16 data; and 

17 (C) is primarily designed for or marketed 

18 to consumers. 

19 (5) INPUT-TRANSPARENT ALGORITHM.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘input-trans21 parent algorithm’’ means an algorithmic rank22 ing system that does not use the user-specific 

23 data of a user to determine the selection, order, 

24 relative prioritization, or relative prominence of 

25 information that is furnished to such user on 


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1 an online platform, unless the user-specific data 

2 is expressly provided to the platform by the 

3 user for such purpose. 

4 (B) DATA EXPRESSLY PROVIDED TO THE

5 PLATFORM.—For purposes of subparagraph 

6 (A), user-specific data that is provided by a 

7 user for the express purpose of determining the 

8 selection, order, relative prioritization, or rel9 ative prominence of information that is fur10 nished to such user on an online platform— 

11 (i) shall include user-supplied search 

12 terms, filters, speech patterns (if provided 

13 for the purpose of enabling the platform to 

14 accept spoken input or selecting the lan15 guage in which the user interacts with the 

16 platform), saved preferences, the resump17 tion of a previous search, and the current 

18 precise geolocation information that is sup19 plied by the user; 

20 (ii) shall include the user’s current ap21 proximate geolocation information; 

22 (iii) shall include data submitted to 

23 the platform by the user that expresses the 

24 user’s desire to receive particular informa25 tion, such as the social media profiles the 


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1 user follows, the video channels the user 

2 subscribes to, or other content or sources 

3 of content on the platform the user has se4 lected; 

5 (iv) shall not include the history of 

6 the user’s connected device, including the 

7 user’s history of web searches and brows8 ing, previous geographical locations, phys9 ical activity, device interaction, and finan10 cial transactions; and 

11 (v) shall not include inferences about 

12 the user or the user’s connected device, 

13 without regard to whether such inferences 

14 are based on data described in clause (i) or 

15 (iii). 

16 (6) ONLINE PLATFORM.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘online plat18 form’’ means any public-facing website, online 

19 service, online application, or mobile application 

20 that predominantly provides a community 

21 forum for user-generated content. 

22 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Such term includes 

23 sharing videos, images, games, audio files, or 

24 other content, including a social media service, 

25 social network, or virtual reality environment. 


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1 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in2 clude chats, comments, or other interactive 

3 functionalities of the community forum that is 

4 incidental to the predominant purpose of the 

5 website, online service, online application, or 

6 mobile application. 

7 (7) OPAQUE ALGORITHM.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘opaque al9 gorithm’’ means an algorithmic ranking system 

10 that determines the selection, order, relative 

11 prioritization, or relative prominence of infor12 mation that is furnished to such user on an on13 line platform based, in whole or part, on user14 specific data that was not expressly provided by 

15 the user to the platform for such purpose. 

16 (B) EXCEPTION FOR AGE-APPROPRIATE

17 CONTENT FILTERS.—Such term shall not in18 clude an algorithmic ranking system used by an 

19 online platform if— 

20 (i) the only user-specific data (includ21 ing inferences about the user) that the sys22 tem uses is information relating to the age 

23 of the user; and 

24 (ii) such information is only used to 

25 restrict a user’s access to content on the 


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1 basis that the individual is not old enough 

2 to access such content. 

3 (8) PRECISE GEOLOCATION INFORMATION.— 

4 The term ‘‘precise geolocation information’’ means 

5 geolocation information that identifies an individ6 ual’s location to within a range of 5 miles or less. 

7 (9) USER-SPECIFIC DATA.—The term ‘‘user8 specific data’’ means information relating to an indi9 vidual or a specific connected device that would not 

10 necessarily be true of every individual or device. 

11 SEC. 202. REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW USERS TO SEE 

12 UNMANIPULATED CONTENT ON INTERNET 

13 PLATFORMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 1 

15 year after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be 

16 unlawful for any person to operate an online platform that 

17 uses an opaque algorithm unless the person complies with 

18 the requirements of subsection (b). 

19 (b) OPAQUE ALGORITHM REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this 

21 subsection with respect to a person that operates an 

22 online platform that uses an opaque algorithm are 

23 the following: 

24 (A) The person provides notice to users of 

25 the platform— 


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1 (i) that the platform uses an opaque 

2 algorithm that uses user-specific data to 

3 select the content the user sees. Such no4 tice shall be presented in a clear and con5 spicuous manner on the platform whenever 

6 the user interacts with an opaque algo7 rithm for the first time, and may be a one8 time notice that can be dismissed by the 

9 user; and 

10 (ii) in the terms and conditions of the 

11 online platform, in a clear, accessible, and 

12 easily comprehensible manner that is to be 

13 updated whenever the online platform 

14 makes a material change to— 

15 (I) the most salient features, in16 puts, and parameters used by the al17 gorithm; 

18 (II) how any user-specific data 

19 used by the algorithm is collected or 

20 inferred about a user of the platform, 

21 and the categories of such data; 

22 (III) any options that the online 

23 platform makes available for a user of 

24 the platform to opt out or exercise op25 tions under subparagraph (B), modify 


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1 the profile of the user or to influence 

2 the features, inputs, or parameters 

3 used by the algorithm; and 

4 (IV) any quantities, such as time 

5 spent using a product or specific 

6 measures of engagement or social 

7 interaction, that the algorithm is de8 signed to optimize, as well as a gen9 eral description of the relative impor10 tance of each quantity for such rank11 ing. 

12 (B) The online platform enables users to 

13 easily switch between the opaque algorithm and 

14 an input-transparent algorithm in their use of 

15 the platform. 

16 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

17 subsection shall be construed to require an online 

18 platform to disclose any information, including data 

19 or algorithms— 

20 (A) relating to a trade secret or other pro21 tected intellectual property; 

22 (B) that is confidential business informa23 tion; or 

24 (C) that is privileged. 


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1 (3) PROHIBITION ON DIFFERENTIAL PRIC2 ING.—An online platform shall not deny, charge dif3 ferent prices or rates for, or condition the provision 

4 of a service or product to a user based on the user’s 

5 election to use an input-transparent algorithm in 

6 their use of the platform, as provided under para7 graph (1)(B). 

8 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS9 SION.— 

10 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC11 TICES.—A violation of this section by an operator of 

12 an online platform shall be treated as a violation of 

13 a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice 

14 prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 

15 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

16 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

18 Commission shall enforce this section in the 

19 same manner, by the same means, and with the 

20 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though 

21 all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed22 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

23 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 

24 this section. 


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1 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Ex2 cept as provided in subparagraph (C), any per3 son who violates this Act shall be subject to the 

4 penalties and entitled to the privileges and im5 munities provided in the Federal Trade Com6 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

7 (C) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 

8 this section shall be construed to limit the au9 thority of the Commission under any other pro10 vision of law. 

11 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION TO PRESERVE PER12 SONALIZED BLOCKS.—Nothing in this section shall be 

13 construed to limit or prohibit an online platform’s ability 

14 to, at the direction of an individual user or group of users, 

15 restrict another user from searching for, finding, access16 ing, or interacting with such user’s or group’s account, 

17 content, data, or online community. 

18 SEC. 203. SEVERABILITY. 

19 If any provision of this title, or an amendment made 

20 by this title, is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, 

21 the remaining provisions of this title and the amendments 

22 made by this title shall not be affected. 


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1 TITLE III—RELATIONSHIP TO 

2 STATE LAWS 

3 SEC. 301. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAWS. 

4 The provisions of this Act shall preempt any State 

5 law, rule, or regulation only to the extent that such State 

6 law, rule, or regulation conflicts with a provision of this 

7 Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a 

8 State from enacting a law, rule, or regulation that pro9 vides greater protection to minors than the protection pro10 vided by the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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