II 

Calendar No. 287 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1409 

To protect the safety of children on the internet. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2023 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mrs. CAPITO, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. ERNST, Mr. PETERS, 

Mr. DAINES, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. COONS, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. WELCH, Mr. MARSHALL, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. 

HYDE-SMITH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. RISCH, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. 

CORNYN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. WICKER, Mr. KELLY, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CARPER, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. 

SHAHEEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. THUNE, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. 

HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 13, 2023 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Kids Online Safety Act’’. 

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

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Duty of care. 

Sec. 4. Safeguards for minors. 

Sec. 5. Disclosure. 

Sec. 6. Transparency. 

Sec. 7. Independent research. 

Sec. 8. Market research. 

Sec. 9. Age verification study and report. 

Sec. 10. Guidance. 

Sec. 11. Enforcement. 

Sec. 12. Kids online safety council. 

Sec. 13. Effective date. 

Sec. 14. Rules of construction and other matters. 

Sec. 15. Severability. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi9 vidual who is under the age of 13. 

10 (2) COMPULSIVE USAGE.—The term ‘‘compul11 sive usage’’ means any response stimulated by exter12 nal factors that causes an individual to engage in re13 petitive behavior reasonably likely to cause psycho14 logical distress, loss of control, anxiety, depression, 

15 or harmful stress responses. 

16 (3) COVERED PLATFORM.— 

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

18 platform’’ means a social media service, social 

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1 network, online video game (including edu2 cational games), messaging application, video 

3 streaming service, or an online platform that 

4 connects to the internet and that is used, or is 

5 reasonably likely to be used, by a minor. 

6 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 platform’’ does not include— 

8 (i) an entity acting in its capacity as 

9 a provider of— 

10 (I) a common carrier service sub11 ject to the Communications Act of 

12 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and all 

13 Acts amendatory thereof and supple14 mentary thereto; 

15 (II) a broadband internet access 

16 service (as such term is defined for 

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

18 Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

19 successor regulation); 

20 (III) an email service; or 

21 (IV) a wireless messaging service 

22 provided through the short messaging 

23 service or multimedia messaging serv24 ice protocols; 

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1 (ii) an organization not organized to 

2 carry on business for its own profit or that 

3 of its members; 

4 (iii) any public or private preschool, 

5 elementary, or secondary school, or any in6 stitution of vocational, professional, or 

7 higher education; or 

8 (iv) a product or service that pri9 marily functions as business-to-business 

10 software. 

11 (4) MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER.—The term 

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

13 term ‘‘mental disorder’’ in the Diagnostic and Sta14 tistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 5th Edi15 tion (or the most current successor edition). 

16 (5) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi17 vidual who is under the age of 17. 

18 (6) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘online 

19 platform’’ means any public-facing website, online 

20 service, online application, or mobile application that 

21 predominantly provides a community forum for user 

22 generated content, including sharing videos, images, 

23 games, audio files, or other content. 

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1 (7) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ includes a 

2 legal guardian or an individual with legal custody 

3 over a minor. 

4 (8) PERSONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘personal 

5 data’’ means information that identifies or is linked 

6 or reasonably linkable to a particular minor, includ7 ing a consumer device identifier associated with a 

8 minor. 

9 (9) PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYS10 TEM.—The term ‘‘personalized recommendation sys11 tem’’ means a fully or partially automated system 

12 used to suggest, promote, or rank information based 

13 on the personal data of users. 

14 (10) SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE.—The 

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

16 the following: 

17 (A) Coercion and enticement, as described 

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

19 (B) Child sexual abuse material, as de20 scribed in sections 2251, 2252, 2252A, and 

21 2260 of title 18, United States Code. 

22 (C) Trafficking for the production of im23 ages, as described in section 2251A of title 18, 

24 United States Code. 

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1 (D) Sex trafficking of children, as de2 scribed in section 1591 of title 18, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (11) TARGETED ADVERTISING.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘targeted ad6 vertising’’ means displaying an advertisement to 

7 an individual where the advertisement is se8 lected based on personal data about the indi9 vidual to predict the individual’s preferences 

10 and interests. 

11 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in12 clude— 

13 (i) advertising or marketing directed 

14 to an individual in response to the individ15 ual’s request for information or express se16 lection of a product or service; 

17 (ii) contextual advertising where an 

18 advertisement is displayed to an individual 

19 based on the content in which the adver20 tisement appears and does not vary based 

21 on who the individual is; or 

22 (iii) processing personal data solely to 

23 measure or report advertising performance, 

24 reach, or frequency. 

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1 SEC. 3. DUTY OF CARE. 

2 (a) PREVENTION OF HARM TO MINORS.—A covered 

3 platform shall act in the best interests of a user that the 

4 platform knows or reasonably should know is a minor by 

5 taking reasonable measures in its design and operation of 

6 products and services to prevent and mitigate the fol7 lowing: 

8 (1) Consistent with evidence-informed medical 

9 information, the following mental health disorders: 

10 anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use 

11 disorders, and suicidal behaviors. 

12 (2) Patterns of use that indicate or encourage 

13 addiction-like behaviors. 

14 (3) Physical violence, online bullying, and har15 assment of the minor. 

16 (4) Sexual exploitation and abuse. 

17 (5) Promotion and marketing of narcotic drugs 

18 (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Sub19 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, 

20 gambling, or alcohol. 

21 (6) Predatory, unfair, or deceptive marketing 

22 practices, or other financial harms. 

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

24 construed to require a covered platform to prevent or pre25 clude— 

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1 (1) any minor from deliberately and independ2 ently searching for, or specifically requesting, con3 tent; or 

4 (2) the covered platform or individuals on the 

5 platform from providing resources for the prevention 

6 or mitigation of suicidal behaviors, substance use, 

7 and other harms, including evidence-informed infor8 mation and clinical resources. 

9 SEC. 4. SAFEGUARDS FOR MINORS. 

10 (a) SAFEGUARDS FOR MINORS.— 

11 (1) SAFEGUARDS.—A covered platform shall 

12 provide an individual that the covered platform 

13 knows or reasonably should know is a minor with 

14 readily accessible and easy-to-use safeguards to, as 

15 applicable— 

16 (A) limit the ability of other individuals to 

17 communicate with the minor; 

18 (B) prevent other users, whether registered 

19 or not, from viewing the minor’s personal data 

20 collected by or shared on the covered platform, 

21 in particular restricting public access to per22 sonal data; 

23 (C) limit features that increase, sustain, or 

24 extend use of the covered platform by the 

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1 wards for time spent on the platform, notifica2 tions, and other features that result in compul3 sive usage of the covered platform by the minor; 

4 (D) control personalized recommendation 

5 systems, including the right to— 

6 (i) opt out of such personalized rec7 ommendation systems, while still allowing 

8 the display of content based on a chrono9 logical format; or 

10 (ii) limit types or categories of rec11 ommendations from such systems; and 

12 (E) restrict the sharing of the geolocation 

13 of the minor and provide notice regarding the 

14 tracking of the minor’s geolocation. 

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

16 an individual that the covered platform knows or 

17 reasonably should know is a minor with readily ac18 cessible and easy-to-use options to— 

19 (A) delete the minor’s account and delete 

20 any personal data collected from, or shared by, 

21 the minor on the covered platform; or 

22 (B) limit the amount of time spent by the 

23 minor on the covered platform. 

24 (3) DEFAULT SAFEGUARD SETTINGS FOR MI25 NORS.—A covered platform shall provide that, in the 

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1 case of a user that the platform knows or reasonably 

2 should know is a minor, the default setting for any 

3 safeguard described under paragraph (1) shall be 

4 the option available on the platform that provides 

5 the most protective level of control that is offered by 

6 the platform over privacy and safety for that user. 

7 (b) PARENTAL TOOLS.— 

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

9 readily accessible and easy-to-use settings for par10 ents to support an individual that the platform 

11 knows or reasonably should know is a minor with re12 spect to the individual’s use of the platform. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The parental tools pro14 vided by a covered platform shall include— 

15 (A) the ability to manage a minor’s privacy 

16 and account settings, including the safeguards 

17 and options established under subsection (a), in 

18 a manner that allows parents to— 

19 (i) view the privacy and account set20 tings; and 

21 (ii) in the case of a user that the plat22 form knows or reasonably should know is 

23 a child, change and control the privacy and 

24 account settings; 

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1 (B) the ability to restrict purchases and fi2 nancial transactions by the minor, where appli3 cable; and 

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

5 spent on the platform. 

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

7 shall provide clear and conspicuous notice to an indi8 vidual that the platform knows or reasonably should 

9 know is a minor when tools described in this sub10 section are in effect and what settings or controls 

11 have been applied. 

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

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

14 knows or reasonably should know is a child, the tools 

15 described in this subsection shall be enabled by de16 fault. 

17 (c) REPORTING MECHANISM.— 

18 (1) REPORTS SUBMITTED BY PARENTS, MI19 NORS, AND SCHOOLS.—A covered platform shall pro20 vide— 

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

22 means to submit reports to the covered plat23 form of harms to minors; 

24 (B) an electronic point of contact specific 

25 to matters involving harms to a minor; and 

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1 (C) confirmation of the receipt of such a 

2 report and a means to track a submitted report. 

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

4 an internal process to receive and substantively re5 spond to reports in a reasonable and timely manner, 

6 but in no case later than— 

7 (A) 7 days after the receipt of a report, if, 

8 for the most recent calendar year, the platform 

9 averaged more than 10,000,000 active users on 

10 a monthly basis in the United States; 

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

12 if, for the most recent calendar year, the plat13 form averaged less than 10,000,000 active 

14 users on a monthly basis in the United States; 

15 and 

16 (C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) 

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

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

19 needed to address the reported threat to safety. 

20 (d) ADVERTISING OF ILLEGAL PRODUCTS.—A cov21 ered platform shall not facilitate the advertising of nar22 cotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled 

23 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gam24 bling, or alcohol to an individual that the covered platform 

25 knows or reasonably should know is a minor. 

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1 (e) APPLICATION.— 

2 (1) ACCESSIBILITY.—With respect to safe3 guards and parental controls described under sub4 sections (a) and (b), a covered platform shall pro5 vide— 

6 (A) information and control options in a 

7 clear and conspicuous manner that takes into 

8 consideration the differing ages, capacities, and 

9 developmental needs of the minors most likely 

10 to access the covered platform and does not en11 courage minors or parents to weaken or disable 

12 safeguards or parental controls; 

13 (B) readily accessible and easy-to-use con14 trols to enable or disable safeguards or parental 

15 controls, as appropriate; and 

16 (C) information and control options in the 

17 same language, form, and manner as the cov18 ered platform provides the product or service 

19 used by minors and their parents. 

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

21 unlawful for any covered platform to design, modify, 

22 or manipulate a user interface of a covered platform 

23 with the purpose or substantial effect of subverting 

24 or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or 

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1 choice in order to weaken or disable safeguards or 

2 parental controls required under this section. 

3 (3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

4 this section shall be construed to— 

5 (A) prevent a covered platform from taking 

6 reasonable measures to— 

7 (i) block, detect, or prevent the dis8 tribution of unlawful, obscene, or other 

9 harmful material to minors as described in 

10 section 3(a); or 

11 (ii) block or filter spam, prevent 

12 criminal activity, or protect the security of 

13 a platform or service; or 

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

15 browsing behavior, search history, messages, 

16 contact list, or other content or metadata of 

17 their communications. 

18 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE. 

19 (a) NOTICE.— 

20 (1) REGISTRATION.—Prior to registration or 

21 purchase of a covered platform by an individual that 

22 the platform knows or reasonably should know is a 

23 minor, the platform shall provide clear, conspicuous, 

24 and easy-to-understand— 

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1 (A) notice of the policies and practices of 

2 the covered platform with respect to personal 

3 data and safeguards for minors; 

4 (B) information about how to access the 

5 safeguards and parental tools required under 

6 section 4; and 

7 (C) notice about whether the covered plat8 form, including any personalized recommenda9 tion systems used by the platform, pose any 

10 heightened risks of harms to minors. 

11 (2) PARENTAL NOTIFICATION.— 

12 (A) NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—In 

13 the case of an individual that a covered plat14 form knows or reasonably should know is a 

15 child, the platform shall additionally provide in16 formation about the parental tools and safe17 guards required under section 4 to a parent of 

18 the child and obtain express affirmative ac19 knowledgment from the parent prior to the ini20 tial use of the covered platform by the child. 

21 (B) REASONABLE EFFORT.—A covered 

22 platform shall be deemed to have satisfied the 

23 requirement described in subparagraph (A) if 

24 the covered platform has undertaken a reason25 able effort (taking into consideration available 

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1 technology) to ensure a parent receives the in2 formation described in such subparagraph and 

3 to obtain a parent’s express affirmative ac4 knowledgment. 

5 (3) CONSOLIDATED NOTICES.—A covered plat6 form may consolidate the process for providing in7 formation and (if applicable) obtaining parental ac8 knowledgment as required under this subsection with 

9 its obligations to obtain consent for data privacy 

10 practices, provided the content of the notice meets 

11 the requirements of this subsection. 

12 (4) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Com13 mission may issue rules pursuant to section 553 of 

14 title 5, United States Code, to establish templates or 

15 models of short-form notices that include the min16 imum level of information and labels necessary for 

17 the disclosures required under paragraph (1). 

18 (b) PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM.—A 

19 covered platform that operates personalized recommenda20 tion systems shall set out in its terms and conditions, in 

21 a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand manner— 

22 (1) an overview of how those personalized rec23 ommendation systems are used by the covered plat24 form to provide information to users of the platform 

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1 who are minors, including how such systems use the 

2 personal data of minors; and 

3 (2) information about options for minors or 

4 their parents to control personalized recommenda5 tion systems (including by opting out of such sys6 tems). 

7 (c) ADVERTISING AND MARKETING INFORMATION

8 AND LABELS.— 

9 (1) INFORMATION AND LABELS.—A covered 

10 platform that facilitates advertising aimed at users 

11 that the platform knows or reasonably should know 

12 are minors shall provide clear, conspicuous, and 

13 easy-to-understand information and labels to minors 

14 on advertisements regarding— 

15 (A) the name of the product, service, or 

16 brand and the subject matter of an advertise17 ment; 

18 (B) why the minor is being targeted for a 

19 particular advertisement if the covered platform 

20 engages in targeted advertising, including mate21 rial information about how the minor’s personal 

22 data was used to target the advertisement; and 

23 (C) whether particular media displayed to 

24 the minor is an advertisement or marketing ma25 terial, including disclosure of endorsements of 

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1 products, services, or brands made for commer2 cial consideration by other users of the plat3 form. 

4 (2) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Com5 mission may issue rules pursuant to section 553 of 

6 title 5, United States Code, to establish templates or 

7 models of short-form notices that include the min8 imum level of information and labels necessary for 

9 the disclosures required under paragraph (1). 

10 (d) RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND MINORS.—A cov11 ered platform shall provide to minors and parents clear, 

12 conspicuous, easy-to-understand, and comprehensive infor13 mation in a prominent location regarding— 

14 (1) its policies and practices with respect to 

15 personal data and safeguards for minors; and 

16 (2) how to access the safeguards and tools re17 quired under section 4. 

18 (e) RESOURCES IN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES.—A 

19 covered platform shall ensure, to the extent practicable, 

20 that the disclosures required by this section are made 

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

22 covered platform provides any product or service used by 

23 minors and their parents. 

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1 SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY. 

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

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

4 a public report identifying the reasonably foreseeable risk 

5 of material harms to minors and describing the prevention 

6 and mitigation measures taken to address such risk based 

7 on an independent, third-party audit conducted through 

8 reasonable inspection of the covered platform. 

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

10 this section shall apply to a covered platform if— 

11 (1) for the most recent calendar year, the plat12 form averaged more than 10,000,000 active users on 

13 a monthly basis in the United States; and 

14 (2) the platform predominantly provides a com15 munity forum for user-generated content and discus16 sion, including sharing videos, images, games, audio 

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

18 such as acting as a social media platform, virtual re19 ality environment, or a social network service. 

20 (c) CONTENT.— 

21 (1) TRANSPARENCY.—The public reports re22 quired of a covered platform under this section shall 

23 include— 

24 (A) an assessment of the extent to which 

25 the platform is likely to be accessed by minors; 

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1 (B) a description of the commercial inter2 ests of the covered platform in use by minors; 

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

4 by the covered platform, of— 

5 (i) the number of individuals using 

6 the covered platform reasonably believed to 

7 be minors in the United States, 

8 disaggregated by the age ranges of 0–5, 6– 

9 9, 10–12, and 13–16; and 

10 (ii) the median and mean amounts of 

11 time spent on the platform by minors in 

12 the United States who have accessed the 

13 platform during the reporting year on a 

14 daily, weekly, and monthly basis, 

15 disaggregated by the age ranges of 0–5, 6– 

16 9, 10–12, and 13–16; 

17 (D) an accounting of total reports received 

18 regarding, and the prevalence (which can be 

19 based on scientifically valid sampling methods 

20 using the content available to the covered plat21 form in the normal course of business) of con22 tent related to, the harms described in section 

23 3(a), disaggregated by category of harm; and 

24 (E) a description of any material breaches 

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1 nors, representations regarding the use of the 

2 personal data of minors, and other matters re3 garding non-compliance. 

4 (2) SYSTEMIC RISKS ASSESSMENT.—The public 

5 reports required of a covered platform under this 

6 section shall include— 

7 (A) an assessment of the reasonably fore8 seeable risk of harms to minors posed by the 

9 covered platform, including identifying any 

10 other physical, mental, developmental, or finan11 cial harms in addition to those described in sec12 tion 3(a); 

13 (B) an assessment of how recommendation 

14 systems and targeted advertising systems can 

15 contribute to harms to minors; 

16 (C) a description of whether and how the 

17 covered platform uses system design features 

18 that increase, sustain, or extend use of a prod19 uct or service by a minor, such as automatic 

20 playing of media, rewards for time spent, and 

21 notifications; 

22 (D) a description of whether, how, and for 

23 what purpose the platform collects or processes 

24 categories of personal data that may cause rea25 sonably foreseeable risk of harms to minors; 

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1 (E) an evaluation of the efficacy of safe2 guards for minors under section 4, and any 

3 issues in delivering such safeguards and the as4 sociated parental tools; and 

5 (F) an evaluation of any other relevant 

6 matters of public concern over risk of harms to 

7 minors. 

8 (3) MITIGATION.—The public reports required 

9 of a covered platform under this section shall in10 clude— 

11 (A) a description of the safeguards and pa12 rental tools available to minors and parents on 

13 the covered platform; 

14 (B) a description of interventions by the 

15 covered platform when it had or has reason to 

16 believe that harms to minors could occur; 

17 (C) a description of the prevention and 

18 mitigation measures intended to be taken in re19 sponse to the known and emerging risks identi20 fied in its assessment of system risks, including 

21 steps taken to— 

22 (i) prevent harms to minors, including 

23 adapting or removing system design fea24 tures or addressing through parental con25 trols; 

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1 (ii) provide the most protective level of 

2 control over privacy and safety by default; 

3 and 

4 (iii) adapt recommendation systems to 

5 prioritize the best interests of users who 

6 are minors, as described in section 3(a); 

7 (D) a description of internal processes for 

8 handling reports and automated detection 

9 mechanisms for harms to minors, including the 

10 rate, timeliness, and effectiveness of responses 

11 under the requirement of section 4(c); 

12 (E) the status of implementing prevention 

13 and mitigation measures identified in prior as14 sessments; and 

15 (F) a description of the additional meas16 ures to be taken by the covered platform to ad17 dress the circumvention of safeguards for mi18 nors and parental tools. 

19 (d) REASONABLE INSPECTION.—In conducting an in20 spection of the systemic risks of harm to minors under 

21 this section, an independent, third-party auditor shall— 

22 (1) take into consideration the function of rec23 ommendation systems; 

24 (2) consult parents and youth experts, including 

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1 perience, public health and mental health nonprofit 

2 organizations, health and development organizations, 

3 and civil society with respect to the prevention of 

4 harms to minors; 

5 (3) conduct research based on experiences of 

6 minors that use the covered platform, including re7 ports under section 4(c) and information provided by 

8 law enforcement; 

9 (4) take account of research, including research 

10 regarding system design features, marketing, or 

11 product integrity, industry best practices, or outside 

12 research; and 

13 (5) consider indicia or inferences of age of 

14 users, in addition to any self-declared information 

15 about the age of individuals. 

16 (e) COOPERATION WITH INDEPENDENT, THIRD17 PARTY AUDIT.—To facilitate the report required by sub18 section (c), a covered platform shall— 

19 (1) provide or otherwise make available to the 

20 independent third-party conducting the audit all in21 formation and material in its possession, custody, or 

22 control that is relevant to the audit; 

23 (2) provide or otherwise make available to the 

24 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 issuing the public reports required under 

9 this section, a covered platform shall take steps to 

10 safeguard the privacy of its users, including ensur11 ing that data is presented in a de-identified, aggre12 gated format such that it is reasonably impossible 

13 for the data to be linked back to any individual user. 

14 (2) This section shall not be construed to re15 quire the disclosure of information that will lead to 

16 material vulnerabilities for the privacy of users or 

17 the security of a covered platform’s service or create 

18 a significant risk of the violation of Federal or State 

19 law. 

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

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

22 easy to find location on a publicly available website. 

23 SEC. 7. INDEPENDENT RESEARCH. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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1 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist2 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

3 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

4 (2) DE-IDENTIFIED DATA.—The term ‘‘de-iden5 tified data’’ means information— 

6 (A) that does not identify and is not linked 

7 or reasonably linkable to an individual or an in8 dividual’s device; and 

9 (B) with respect to which a covered plat10 form or researcher takes reasonable technical 

11 and contractual measures to ensure that the in12 formation is not used to re-identify any indi13 vidual or individual’s device. 

14 (3) ELIGIBLE RESEARCHER.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible re16 searcher’’ means an individual or group of indi17 viduals affiliated with or employed by— 

18 (i) an institution of higher education 

19 (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 

21 or 

22 (ii) a nonprofit organization described 

23 in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986. 

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1 (B) LIMITATION.—Such term shall not in2 clude an individual or group of individuals that 

3 is— 

4 (i) not located in the United States; 

5 or 

6 (ii) affiliated with the government of a 

7 foreign adversary (as defined in section 

8 8(c)(2) of the Secure and Trusted Commu9 nications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 

10 1607(c)(2))). 

11 (4) INDEPENDENT RESEARCH.—The term 

12 ‘‘independent research’’ means the scientific or his13 torical analysis of information that is performed for 

14 the primary purpose of advancing understanding, 

15 knowledge, and remedies regarding the harms to mi16 nors described in section 3(a). 

17 (5) NONCOMMERCIAL PURPOSE.—The term 

18 ‘‘noncommercial purpose’’ means a purpose that 

19 does not involve any direct or indirect use of data 

20 sets for the sale, resale, solicitation, rental, or lease 

21 of a service, or any use by which the user expects 

22 a profit, including the sale to the general public of 

23 a publication containing independent research. 

24 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

25 the program established under subsection (b)(1). 

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1 (7) QUALIFIED RESEARCHER.—The term 

2 ‘‘qualified researcher’’ means an eligible researcher 

3 who is approved by the Assistant Secretary to con4 duct independent research regarding harms to mi5 nors under the Program. 

6 (b) INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROGRAM RELATING

7 TO IDENTIFIED HARMS TO MINORS.— 

8 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to paragraph 

9 (2), the Assistant Secretary shall establish a pro10 gram, with public notice and an opportunity to com11 ment, under which an eligible researcher may apply 

12 for, and a covered platform shall provide, access to 

13 data sets from the covered platform for the sole pur14 pose of conducting independent research regarding 

15 the harms described in section 3(a). 

16 (2) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—The require17 ments of this subsection shall apply to a covered 

18 platform if— 

19 (A) for the most recent calendar year, the 

20 platform averaged more than 10,000,000 active 

21 users on a monthly basis in the United States; 

22 and 

23 (B) the platform predominantly provides a 

24 community forum for user generated content 

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•S 1409 RS

1 ages, games, audio files, discussion in a virtual 

2 setting, or other content, such as acting as a 

3 social media platform, virtual reality environ4 ment, or social network service. 

5 (3) PROCESSES, PROCEDURES, AND STAND6 ARDS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en7 actment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall es8 tablish for the program established under this sub9 section— 

10 (A) definitions for data sets (related to 

11 harms described in section 3(a)) that qualify for 

12 disclosure to researchers under the program 

13 and standards of access for data sets to be pro14 vided under the program; 

15 (B) a process by which an eligible re16 searcher may submit an application described in 

17 paragraph (1); 

18 (C) an appeals process for eligible re19 searchers to appeal adverse decisions on appli20 cations described in paragraph (1) (including a 

21 decision to grant an appeal under paragraph 

22 (4)(C)); 

23 (D) procedures for implementation of the 

24 program, including methods for— 

25 (i) participation by covered platforms; 

30 

•S 1409 RS

1 (ii) evaluation of researcher proposals 

2 for alignment with program objectives and 

3 scoping; and 

4 (iii) verification by the Assistant Sec5 retary of the credentials of eligible re6 searchers and processes for the application 

7 or disqualification to participate in the pro8 gram; 

9 (E) standards for privacy, security, and 

10 confidentiality required to participate in the 

11 program, including rules to ensure that the pri12 vacy and safety of users is not infringed by the 

13 program; 

14 (F) a mechanism to allow individuals to 

15 control the use of their personal data under the 

16 program, including the ability to opt out of the 

17 program; 

18 (G) standards for transparency regarding 

19 the operation and administration of the pro20 gram; and 

21 (H) rules to prevent requests for data sets 

22 that present financial conflicts of interest, in23 cluding efforts by covered platforms to gain a 

24 competitive advantage by directly funding data 

25 access requests, the use of qualified researcher 

31 

•S 1409 RS

1 status for commercial gain, or efforts by cov2 ered platforms to obtain access to intellectual 

3 property that is otherwise protected by law. 

4 (4) DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF COVERED PLAT5 FORMS.— 

6 (A) ACCESS TO DATA SETS.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Assistant 

8 Secretary approves an application under 

9 paragraph (1) with respect to a covered 

10 platform, the covered platform shall, in a 

11 timely manner, provide the qualified re12 searcher with access to data sets necessary 

13 to conduct independent research described 

14 in that paragraph. 

15 (ii) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this 

16 section shall be construed to require a cov17 ered platform to provide access to data 

18 sets that are intellectual property protected 

19 by Federal law, trade secrets, or commer20 cial or financial information. 

21 (iii) FORM OF ACCESS.—A covered 

22 platform shall provide to a qualified re23 searcher access to data sets under clause 

24 (i) through online databases, application 

32 

•S 1409 RS

1 programming interfaces, and data files as 

2 appropriate. 

3 (B) NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT.—A 

4 covered platform may require, as a condition of 

5 access to the data sets of the covered platform, 

6 that a qualified researcher enter into a non7 disclosure agreement restricting the release of 

8 data sets, provided that— 

9 (i) the agreement does not restrict the 

10 publication or discussion regarding the 

11 qualified researcher’s findings; and 

12 (ii) the terms of the agreement allow 

13 the qualified researcher to provide the 

14 original agreement or a copy of the agree15 ment to the Assistant Secretary. 

16 (C) APPEAL.— 

17 (i) AGENCY APPEAL.—A covered plat18 form may appeal the granting of an appli19 cation under paragraph (1) on the grounds 

20 that, and the Assistant Secretary shall 

21 grant such appeal if— 

22 (I) the covered platform does not 

23 have access to the requested data sets 

24 or the requested data sets are not rea25 sonably tailored to application; or 

33 

•S 1409 RS

1 (II) providing access to the data 

2 sets will lead to material 

3 vulnerabilities for the privacy of users 

4 or the security of the covered plat5 form’s service or create a significant 

6 risk of the violation of Federal or 

7 state law. 

8 (ii) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A decision of 

9 the Assistant Secretary with respect to an 

10 appeal under clause (i) shall be considered 

11 to be a final agency action for purposes of 

12 judicial review under chapter 7 of title 5, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (iii) ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF FUL15 FILLMENT.—As part of an appeal under 

16 clause (i) that is made on the basis of sub17 clause (II) of such clause, a covered plat18 form shall propose one or more alternative 

19 data sets or means of accessing the re20 quested data sets that are appropriate and 

21 sufficient to fulfill the purpose of the appli22 cation, or shall explain why there are no 

23 alternative data sets or means of access 

24 which acceptably mitigate the applicable 

25 privacy, security, or legal concerns. 

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1 (D) TIMING.—A covered platform for 

2 which this provision applies shall participate in 

3 the program established under this subsection 

4 no later than two years after enactment of this 

5 Act. 

6 (5) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—In order to 

7 be approved to access data sets from a covered plat8 form, an eligible researcher shall, in the application 

9 submitted under paragraph (1)— 

10 (A) explain the purpose for which the inde11 pendent research is undertaken; 

12 (B) commit to conduct the research for 

13 noncommercial purposes; 

14 (C) demonstrate a proven record of exper15 tise on the proposed research topic and related 

16 research methodologies; 

17 (D) if the eligible researcher is seeking ac18 cess to data sets that include personal data, ex19 plain why the data sets are requested, and the 

20 means through which such data sets shall be 

21 accessed are the least sensitive and the most 

22 privacy-protective means that will permit com23 pletion of the research and not compromise the 

24 privacy or safety of users; and 

35 

•S 1409 RS

1 (E) commit to fulfill, and demonstrate a 

2 capacity to fulfill, the specific data security and 

3 confidentiality requirements corresponding to 

4 the application. 

5 (6) PRIVACY AND DUTY OF CONFIDEN6 TIALITY.— 

7 (A) RESEARCHER CONFIDENTIALITY.—To 

8 protect user privacy, a qualified researcher shall 

9 keep data sets provided by a covered platform 

10 under the program confidential and secure to 

11 the specifications set forth under the program 

12 rules and the approved application. 

13 (B) PLATFORM CONFIDENTIALITY.—A cov14 ered platform shall use reasonable measures to 

15 enable researcher access to data sets under the 

16 program in a secure and privacy-protective 

17 manner, including through the de-identification 

18 of personal data or use of other privacy-enhanc19 ing technologies. 

20 (C) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Nothing in this 

21 subsection shall be construed to authorize— 

22 (i) a Federal agency to seek access to 

23 the data of a covered platform through the 

24 program; or 

36 

•S 1409 RS

1 (ii) a qualified researcher to transfer 

2 or share any data sets provided by a cov3 ered platform under the program with a 

4 Federal agency. 

5 (D) SECURITY.—Nothing in this sub6 section shall be construed in a manner that 

7 would result in data sets from a covered plat8 form being transferred to the Government of 

9 the People’s Republic of China or the govern10 ment of another foreign adversary (as defined 

11 in section 8(c)(2) of the Secure and Trusted 

12 Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 

13 U.S.C. 1607(c)(2))). 

14 (c) SAFE HARBOR FOR COLLECTION OF DATA FOR

15 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH REGARDING IDENTIFIED

16 HARMS TO MINORS.—If, in the course of conducting inde17 pendent research for noncommercial purposes regarding 

18 harms described in section 3(a) (without regard to wheth19 er such research is conducted under the program), an eli20 gible researcher collects or uses data from a covered plat21 form in a manner that violates the terms of service of the 

22 platform, no cause of action based on such violation shall 

23 lie or be maintained in any court against such researcher 

24 unless the violation relates to the failure of the researcher 

37 

•S 1409 RS

1 to take reasonable measures to protect user privacy and 

2 security. 

3 (d) RULEMAKING.—The Assistant Secretary, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Director 

5 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

6 the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the 

7 Director of the National Institutes of Health shall promul8 gate rules in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, as necessary to implement this section. 

10 SEC. 8. MARKET RESEARCH. 

11 (a) MARKET RESEARCH BY COVERED PLATFORMS.— 

12 The Federal Trade Commission, in consultation with the 

13 Secretary of Commerce, shall issue guidance for covered 

14 platforms seeking to conduct market- and product-focused 

15 research on minors. Such guidance shall include— 

16 (1) a standard consent form that provides mi17 nors and their parents a clear, conspicuous, and 

18 easy-to-understand explanation of the scope and pur19 pose of the research to be conducted, and provides 

20 an opportunity for informed consent; and 

21 (2) recommendations for research practices for 

22 studies that may include minors, disaggregated by 

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

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

25 issue such guidance not later than 18 months after the 

38 

•S 1409 RS

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

2 input from members of the public and the representatives 

3 of the Kids Online Safety Council established under sec4 tion 12. 

5 SEC. 9. AGE VERIFICATION STUDY AND REPORT. 

6 (a) STUDY.—The Director of the National Institute 

7 of Standards and Technology, in coordination with the 

8 Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade 

9 Commission, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall con10 duct a study evaluating the most technologically feasible 

11 methods and options for developing systems to verify age 

12 at the device or operating system level. 

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

14 (1) the benefits of creating a device or oper15 ating system level age verification system; 

16 (2) what information may need to be collected 

17 to create this type of age verification system; 

18 (3) the accuracy of such systems and their im19 pact or steps to improve accessibility, including for 

20 individuals with disabilities; 

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

22 age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data 

23 security and safeguarding minors’ personal data, 

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•S 1409 RS

1 lected and processed by covered platforms and age 

2 verification providers for such a system; and 

3 (5) the technical feasibility, including the need 

4 for potential hardware and software changes, includ5 ing for devices currently in commerce and owned by 

6 consumers. 

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

8 of enactment of this Act, the agencies described in sub9 section (a) shall submit a report containing the results of 

10 the study conducted under such subsection to the Com11 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

12 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

13 the House of Representatives. 

14 SEC. 10. GUIDANCE. 

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

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Com17 mission, in consultation with the Kids Online Safety Coun18 cil established under section 12, shall issue guidance to— 

19 (1) provide information and examples for cov20 ered platforms and auditors regarding— 

21 (A) identifying features that are used to 

22 increase, sustain, or extend use of the covered 

23 platform by a minor; 

24 (B) safeguarding minors against the pos25 sible misuse of parental tools; 

40 

•S 1409 RS

1 (C) best practices in providing minors and 

2 parents the most protective level of control over 

3 privacy and safety; 

4 (D) using indicia or inferences of age of 

5 users for assessing use of the covered platform 

6 by minors; 

7 (E) methods for evaluating the efficacy of 

8 safeguards; and 

9 (F) providing additional control options 

10 that allow parents to address the harms de11 scribed in section 3(a); and 

12 (2) outline conduct that does not have the pur13 pose or substantial effect of subverting or impairing 

14 user autonomy, decision-making, or choice, or of 

15 causing, increasing, or encouraging compulsive usage 

16 for a minor, such as— 

17 (A) de minimis user interface changes de18 rived from testing consumer preferences, includ19 ing different styles, layouts, or text, where such 

20 changes are not done with the purpose of weak21 ening or disabling safeguards or parental con22 trols; 

23 (B) algorithms or data outputs outside the 

24 control of a covered platform; and 

41 

•S 1409 RS

1 (C) establishing default settings that pro2 vide enhanced privacy protection to users or 

3 otherwise enhance their autonomy and decision4 making ability. 

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

6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Education, in consultation with the Federal 

8 Trade Commission and the Kids Online Safety Council es9 tablished under section 12, shall issue guidance to assist 

10 to assist elementary and secondary schools in using the 

11 notice, safeguards and tools provided under this Act and 

12 providing information on online safety for students and 

13 teachers. 

14 (c) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

15 GUIDANCE.— 

16 (1) EFFECT OF GUIDANCE.—No guidance 

17 issued by the Federal Trade Commission with re18 spect to this Act shall— 

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

20 or locality; or 

21 (B) operate to bind the Federal Trade 

22 Commission or any person to the approach rec23 ommended in such guidance. 

42 

•S 1409 RS

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

2 enforcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the 

3 Federal Trade Commission— 

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

5 this Act; and 

6 (B) may not base such enforcement action 

7 on, or execute a consent order based on, prac8 tices that are alleged to be inconsistent with 

9 guidance issued by the Federal Trade Commis10 sion with respect to this Act, unless the prac11 tices are alleged to violate a provision of this 

12 Act. 

13 SEC. 11. ENFORCEMENT. 

14 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS15 SION.— 

16 (1) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC17 TICES.—A violation of this Act or a regulation pro18 mulgated under this Act shall be treated as a viola19 tion of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or 

20 practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 

21 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

23 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

25 Commission (referred to in this section as the 

43 

•S 1409 RS

1 ‘‘Commission’’) shall enforce this Act and any 

2 regulation promulgated under this Act in the 

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

4 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though 

5 all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed6 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

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

8 this Act. 

9 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

10 person that violates this Act or a regulation 

11 promulgated under this Act shall be subject to 

12 the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and 

13 immunities, provided in the Federal Trade 

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

15 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 

16 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 

17 Commission under any other provision of law. 

18 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN19 ERAL.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

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

22 the attorney general of a State has reason to 

23 believe that an interest of the residents of that 

24 State has been or is threatened or adversely af25 fected by the engagement of any person in a 

44 

•S 1409 RS

1 practice that violates this Act or a regulation 

2 promulgated under this Act, the State, as 

3 parens patriae, may bring a civil action on be4 half of the residents of the State in a district 

5 court of the United States or a State court of 

6 appropriate jurisdiction to— 

7 (i) enjoin that practice; 

8 (ii) enforce compliance with this Act 

9 or such regulation; 

10 (iii) on behalf of residents of the 

11 State, obtain damages, restitution, or other 

12 compensation, each of which shall be dis13 tributed in accordance with State law; or 

14 (iv) obtain such other relief as the 

15 court may consider to be appropriate. 

16 (B) NOTICE.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—Before filing an ac18 tion under subparagraph (A), the attorney 

19 general of the State involved shall provide 

20 to the Commission— 

21 (I) written notice of that action; 

22 and 

23 (II) a copy of the complaint for 

24 that action. 

25 (ii) EXEMPTION.— 

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•S 1409 RS

1 (I) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) 

2 shall not apply with respect to the fil3 ing of an action by an attorney gen4 eral of a State under this paragraph 

5 if the attorney general of the State 

6 determines that it is not feasible to 

7 provide the notice described in that 

8 clause before the filing of the action. 

9 (II) NOTIFICATION.—In an ac10 tion described in subclause (I), the at11 torney general of a State shall provide 

12 notice and a copy of the complaint to 

13 the Commission at the same time as 

14 the attorney general files the action. 

15 (2) INTERVENTION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—On receiving notice 

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

18 have the right to intervene in the action that is 

19 the subject of the notice. 

20 (B) EFFECT OF INTERVENTION.—If the 

21 Commission intervenes in an action under para22 graph (1), it shall have the right— 

23 (i) to be heard with respect to any 

24 matter that arises in that action; and 

25 (ii) to file a petition for appeal. 

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•S 1409 RS

1 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing 

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

3 Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney gen4 eral of a State from exercising the powers conferred 

5 on the attorney general by the laws of that State 

6 to— 

7 (A) conduct investigations; 

8 (B) administer oaths or affirmations; or 

9 (C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 

10 the production of documentary and other evi11 dence. 

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

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

14 of the Commission for violation of this Act or a reg15 ulation promulgated under this Act, no State may, 

16 during the pendency of that action, institute a sepa17 rate action under paragraph (1) against any defend18 ant named in the complaint in the action instituted 

19 by or on behalf of the Commission for that violation. 

20 (5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

21 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 

22 paragraph (1) may be brought in— 

23 (i) the district court of the United 

24 States that meets applicable requirements 

47 

•S 1409 RS

1 relating to venue under section 1391 of 

2 title 28, United States Code; or 

3 (ii) a State court of competent juris4 diction. 

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

6 brought under paragraph (1) in a district court 

7 of the United States, process may be served 

8 wherever defendant— 

9 (i) is an inhabitant; or 

10 (ii) may be found. 

11 SEC. 12. KIDS ONLINE SAFETY COUNCIL. 

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

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com14 merce shall establish and convene the Kids Online Safety 

15 Council for the purpose of providing advice on matters re16 lated to this Act. 

17 (b) PARTICIPATION.—The Kids Online Safety Coun18 cil shall include diverse participation from— 

19 (1) academic experts, health professionals, and 

20 members of civil society with expertise in mental 

21 health, substance use disorders, and the prevention 

22 of harms to minors; 

23 (2) representatives in academia and civil society 

24 with specific expertise in privacy and civil liberties; 

25 (3) parents and youth representation; 

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•S 1409 RS

1 (4) representatives of covered platforms; 

2 (5) representatives of the National Tele3 communications and Information Administration, 

4 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

5 the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of 

6 Justice, and the Department of Health and Human 

7 Services; 

8 (6) State attorneys general or their designees 

9 acting in State or local government; and 

10 (7) representatives of communities of socially 

11 disadvantaged individuals (as defined in section 8 of 

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

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

14 Kids Online Safety Council shall include— 

15 (1) identifying emerging or current risks of 

16 harms to minors associated with online platforms; 

17 (2) recommending measures and methods for 

18 assessing, preventing, and mitigating harms to mi19 nors online; 

20 (3) recommending methods and themes for con21 ducting research regarding online harms to minors; 

22 and 

23 (4) recommending best practices and clear, con24 sensus-based technical standards for transparency 

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1 cluding methods, criteria, and scope to promote 

2 overall accountability. 

3 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act 

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

6 date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 14. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER MATTERS. 

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

9 this Act shall be construed to— 

10 (1) preempt section 444 of the General Edu11 cation Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly 

12 known as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Pri13 vacy Act of 1974’’) or other Federal or State laws 

14 governing student privacy; 

15 (2) preempt the Children’s Online Privacy Pro16 tection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) or any 

17 rule or regulation promulgated under such Act; or 

18 (3) authorize any action that would conflict 

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

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

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

22 Act shall be construed to require— 

23 (1) the affirmative collection of any personal 

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

50 

•S 1409 RS

1 platform is not already collecting in the normal 

2 course of business; or 

3 (2) a covered platform to implement an age 

4 gating or age verification functionality. 

5 (c) COMPLIANCE.—Nothing in this Act shall be con6 strued to restrict a covered platform’s ability to— 

7 (1) cooperate with law enforcement agencies re8 garding activity that the covered platform reasonably 

9 and in good faith believes may violate Federal, 

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

11 (2) comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory 

12 inquiry or any investigation, subpoena, or summons 

13 by Federal, State, local, or other government au14 thorities; or 

15 (3) investigate, establish, exercise, respond to, 

16 or defend against legal claims. 

17 SEC. 15. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

19 by this Act, is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, 

20 the remaining provisions of this Act and the amendments 

21 made by this Act shall not be affected. 

22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

24 ‘‘Kids Online Safety Act’’. 

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

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Duty of care. 

Sec. 4. Safeguards for minors. 

Sec. 5. Disclosure. 

Sec. 6. Transparency. 

Sec. 7. Independent research on social media and minors. 

Sec. 8. Market research. 

Sec. 9. Age verification study and report. 

Sec. 10. Guidance. 

Sec. 11. Enforcement. 

Sec. 12. Kids online safety council. 

Sec. 13. Filter bubble transparency requirements. 

Sec. 14. Effective date. 

Sec. 15. Rules of construction and other matters. 

Sec. 16. Severability. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi6 vidual who is under the age of 13. 

7 (2) COMPULSIVE USAGE.—The term ‘‘compulsive 

8 usage’’ means any response stimulated by external 

9 factors that causes an individual to engage in repet10 itive behavior reasonably likely to cause psychological 

11 distress, loss of control, anxiety, or depression. 

12 (3) COVERED PLATFORM.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered plat14 form’’ means an online platform, online video 

15 game, messaging application, or video streaming 

16 service that connects to the internet and that is 

17 used, or is reasonably likely to be used, by a 

18 minor. 

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1 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘covered plat2 form’’ does not include— 

3 (i) an entity acting in its capacity as 

4 a provider of— 

5 (I) a common carrier service sub6 ject to the Communications Act of 1934 

7 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and all Acts 

8 amendatory thereof and supplementary 

9 thereto; 

10 (II) a broadband internet access 

11 service (as such term is defined for 

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

13 Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

14 successor regulation); 

15 (III) an email service; 

16 (IV) a teleconferencing or video 

17 conferencing service that allows recep18 tion and transmission of audio and 

19 video signals for real-time communica20 tion, provided that— 

21 (aa) is not an online plat22 form, including a social media 

23 service or social network; and 

24 (bb) the real-time commu25 nication is initiated by using a 

53 

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1 unique link or identifier to 

2 faciliate access; or 

3 (V) a wireless messaging service, 

4 including such a service provided 

5 through short messaging service or 

6 multimedia messaging service proto7 cols, that is not a component of or 

8 linked to an online platform and where 

9 the predominant or exclusive function 

10 is direct messaging consisting of the 

11 transmission of text, photos or videos 

12 that are sent by electronic means, 

13 where messages are transmitted from 

14 the sender to a recipient, and are not 

15 posted within an online platform or 

16 publicly; 

17 (ii) an organization not organized to 

18 carry on business for its own profit or that 

19 of its members; 

20 (iii) any public or private preschool, 

21 elementary, or secondary school, or any in22 stitution of vocational, professional, or high23 er education; 

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•S 1409 RS

1 (iv) a library (as defined in section 

2 213(1) of the Library Services and Tech3 nology Act (20 U.S.C. 9122(1))); 

4 (v) a news website or app where— 

5 (I) the inclusion of video content 

6 on the website or app is related to the 

7 website or app’s own gathering, report8 ing, or publishing of news content; and 

9 (II) the website or app is not oth10 erwise an online platform; 

11 (vi) a product or service that pri12 marily functions as business-to-business 

13 software; or 

14 (vii) a virtual private network or simi15 lar service that exists solely to route inter16 net traffic between locations. 

17 (4) GEOLOCATION.—The term ‘‘geolocation’’ 

18 means information sufficient to identify street name 

19 and name of a city or town. 

20 (5) INDIVIDUAL-SPECIFIC ADVERTISING TO MI21 NORS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘individual23 specific advertising to minors’’ means adver24 tising or any other effort to market a product or 

25 service that is directed to a specific minor or a 

55 

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1 device that is linked or reasonably linkable to a 

2 minor— 

3 (i) based on— 

4 (I) the personal data of— 

5 (aa) the minor; or 

6 (bb) a group of minors who 

7 are similar in sex, age, income 

8 level, race, or ethnicity to the spe9 cific minor to whom the product 

10 or service is marketed; 

11 (II) psychological profiling of a 

12 minor or group of minors; or 

13 (III) a unique identifier of the de14 vice; or 

15 (ii) as a result of use by the minor, ac16 cess by any device of the minor, or use by 

17 a group of minors who are similar to the 

18 specific minor, of more than a single— 

19 (I) website; 

20 (II) online service; 

21 (III) online application; 

22 (IV) mobile application; or 

23 (V) connected device 

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1 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘individual2 specific advertising to minors’’ shall not in3 clude— 

4 (i) advertising or marketing to an in5 dividual or the device of an individual in 

6 response to the individual’s specific request 

7 for information or feedback, such as a mi8 nor’s current search query; 

9 (ii) contextual advertising, such as 

10 when an advertisement is displayed based 

11 on the content of the covered platform on 

12 which the advertisement appears and does 

13 not vary based on personal information re14 lated to the viewer; 

15 (iii) processing personal information 

16 solely for measuring or reporting adver17 tising or content performance, reach, or fre18 quency, including independent measure19 ment; 

20 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

21 subparagraph (A) shall be construed to prohibit 

22 a covered platform with actual knowledge or 

23 knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective 

24 circumstances that an individual is under the 

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1 keting that is age-appropriate for the individual 

2 involved and intended for a child or teen audi3 ence (as applicable), so long as the covered plat4 form does not use any personal data other than 

5 whether the user is under the age of 17 to deliver 

6 such advertising or marketing. 

7 (6) KNOW OR KNOWS.—The term ‘‘know’’ or 

8 ‘‘knows’’ means to have actual knowledge or knowl9 edge fairly implied on the basis of objective cir10 cumstances. 

11 (7) MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER.—The term 

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

13 term ‘‘mental disorder’’ in the Diagnostic and Statis14 tical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 5th Edition 

15 (or the most current successor edition). 

16 (8) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi17 vidual who is under the age of 17. 

18 (9) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘online plat19 form’’ means any public-facing website, online serv20 ice, online application, or mobile application that 

21 predominantly provides a community forum for user 

22 generated content, such as sharing videos, images, 

23 games, audio files, or other content, including a social 

24 media service, social network, or virtual reality envi25 ronment. 

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1 (10) ONLINE VIDEO GAME.—The term ‘‘online 

2 video game’’ means a video game, including an edu3 cational video game, that connects to the internet and 

4 that— 

5 (A) allows a user to— 

6 (i) create and upload content; 

7 (ii) engage in microtransactions with8 in the game; or 

9 (iii) communicate with other users; or 

10 (B) incorporates minor-specific advertising. 

11 (11) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ includes— 

12 (A) a natural parent; 

13 (B) a legal guardian; or 

14 (C) an individual with legal custody over a 

15 minor. 

16 (12) PERSONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘personal 

17 data’’ means information that identifies or is linked 

18 or reasonably linkable to a particular minor, includ19 ing a consumer device identifier that is linked or rea20 sonably linkable to a minor. 

21 (13) PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYS22 TEM.—The term ‘‘personalized recommendation sys23 tem’’ means a fully or partially automated system 

24 used to suggest, promote, or rank content, including 

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1 other users or posts, based on the personal data of 

2 users. 

3 (14) SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE.—The 

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

5 the following: 

6 (A) Coercion and enticement, as described 

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

8 (B) Child sexual abuse material, as de9 scribed in sections 2251, 2252, 2252A, and 2260 

10 of title 18, United States Code. 

11 (C) Trafficking for the production of im12 ages, as described in section 2251A of title 18, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (D) Sex trafficking of children, as described 

15 in section 1591 of title 18, United States Code. 

16 SEC. 3. DUTY OF CARE. 

17 (a) PREVENTION OF HARM TO MINORS.—A covered 

18 platform shall take reasonable measures in the design and 

19 operation of any product, service, or feature that the covered 

20 platform knows is used by minors to prevent and mitigate 

21 the following harms to minors: 

22 (1) Consistent with evidence-informed medical 

23 information, the following mental health disorders: 

24 anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use 

25 disorders, and suicidal behaviors. 

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1 (2) Patterns of use that indicate or encourage 

2 addiction-like behaviors. 

3 (3) Physical violence, online bullying, and har4 assment of the minor. 

5 (4) Sexual exploitation and abuse. 

6 (5) Promotion and marketing of narcotic drugs 

7 (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Sub8 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gam9 bling, or alcohol. 

10 (6) Predatory, unfair, or deceptive marketing 

11 practices, or other financial harms. 

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

13 construed to require a covered platform to prevent or pre14 clude— 

15 (1) any minor from deliberately and independ16 ently searching for, or specifically requesting, content; 

17 or 

18 (2) the covered platform or individuals on the 

19 platform from providing resources for the prevention 

20 or mitigation of the harms described in subsection 

21 (a), including evidence-informed information and 

22 clinical resources. 

23 SEC. 4. SAFEGUARDS FOR MINORS. 

24 (a) SAFEGUARDS FOR MINORS.— 

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1 (1) SAFEGUARDS.—A covered platform shall pro2 vide an individual that the covered platform knows is 

3 a minor with readily-accessible and easy-to-use safe4 guards to, as applicable— 

5 (A) limit the ability of other individuals to 

6 communicate with the minor; 

7 (B) prevent other users, whether registered 

8 or not, from viewing the minor’s personal data 

9 collected by or shared on the covered platform, in 

10 particular restricting public access to personal 

11 data; 

12 (C) limit features that increase, sustain, or 

13 extend use of the covered platform by the minor, 

14 such as automatic playing of media, rewards for 

15 time spent on the platform, notifications, and 

16 other features that result in compulsive usage of 

17 the covered platform by the minor; 

18 (D) control personalized recommendation 

19 systems, including the ability for a minor to 

20 have at least 1 of the following options— 

21 (i) opt out of such personalized rec22 ommendation systems, while still allowing 

23 the display of content based on a chrono24 logical format; or 

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1 (ii) limit types or categories of rec2 ommendations from such systems; and 

3 (E) restrict the sharing of the geolocation of 

4 the minor to other users on the platform and 

5 provide notice regarding the tracking of the mi6 nor’s geolocation. 

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

8 an individual that the covered platform knows is a 

9 minor with readily-accessible and easy-to-use options 

10 to— 

11 (A) delete the minor’s account and delete 

12 any personal data collected from, or shared by, 

13 the minor on the covered platform; or 

14 (B) limit the amount of time spent by the 

15 minor on the covered platform. 

16 (3) DEFAULT SAFEGUARD SETTINGS FOR MI17 NORS.—A covered platform shall provide that, in the 

18 case of a user that the platform knows is a minor, the 

19 default setting for any safeguard described under 

20 paragraph (1) shall be the option available on the 

21 platform that provides the most protective level of 

22 control that is offered by the platform over privacy 

23 and safety for that user. 

24 (b) PARENTAL TOOLS.— 

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

2 readily-accessible and easy-to-use settings for parents 

3 to support an individual that the platform knows is 

4 a minor with respect to the individual’s use of the 

5 platform. 

6 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The parental tools pro7 vided by a covered platform shall include— 

8 (A) the ability to manage a minor’s privacy 

9 and account settings, including the safeguards 

10 and options established under subsection (a), in 

11 a manner that allows parents to— 

12 (i) view the privacy and account set13 tings; and 

14 (ii) in the case of a user that the plat15 form knows is a child, change and control 

16 the privacy and account settings; 

17 (B) the ability to restrict purchases and fi18 nancial transactions by the minor, where appli19 cable; and 

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

21 spent on the platform and restrict time spent on 

22 the covered platform by the minor. 

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

24 shall provide clear and conspicuous notice to an indi25 vidual that the platform knows is a minor when tools 

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•S 1409 RS

1 described in this subsection are in effect and what set2 tings or controls have been applied. 

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

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

5 knows is a child, the tools described in this subsection 

6 shall be enabled by default. 

7 (c) REPORTING MECHANISM.— 

8 (1) REPORTS SUBMITTED BY PARENTS, MINORS, 

9 AND SCHOOLS.—A covered platform shall provide— 

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

11 means to submit reports to the covered platform 

12 of harms to a minor; 

13 (B) an electronic point of contact specific to 

14 matters involving harms to a minor; and 

15 (C) confirmation of the receipt of such a re16 port and a means to track a submitted report. 

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, if, 

22 for the most recent calendar year, the platform 

23 averaged more than 10,000,000 active users on a 

24 monthly basis in the United States; 

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

2 for the most recent calendar year, the platform 

3 averaged less than 10,000,000 active users on a 

4 monthly basis in the United States; and 

5 (C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and 

6 (B), if the report involves an imminent threat to 

7 the safety of a minor, as promptly as needed to 

8 address the reported threat to safety. 

9 (d) ADVERTISING OF ILLEGAL PRODUCTS.—A covered 

10 platform shall not facilitate the advertising of narcotic 

11 drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Sub12 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, 

13 or alcohol to an individual that the covered platform knows 

14 is a minor. 

15 (e) APPLICATION.— 

16 (1) ACCESSIBILITY.—With respect to safeguards 

17 and parental controls described under subsections (a) 

18 and (b), a covered platform shall provide— 

19 (A) information and control options in a 

20 clear and conspicuous manner that takes into 

21 consideration the differing ages, capacities, and 

22 developmental needs of the minors most likely to 

23 access the covered platform and does not encour24 age minors or parents to weaken or disable safe25 guards or parental controls; 

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1 (B) readily-accessible and easy-to-use con2 trols to enable or disable safeguards or parental 

3 controls, as appropriate; and 

4 (C) information and control options in the 

5 same language, form, and manner as the covered 

6 platform provides the product or service used by 

7 minors and their parents. 

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

9 unlawful for any covered platform to design, modify, 

10 or manipulate a user interface of a covered platform 

11 with the purpose or substantial effect of subverting or 

12 impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice 

13 with respect to safeguards or parental controls re14 quired under this section. 

15 (3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

16 section shall be construed to— 

17 (A) prevent a covered platform from taking 

18 reasonable measures to— 

19 (i) block, detect, or prevent the dis20 tribution of unlawful, obscene, or other 

21 harmful material to minors as described in 

22 section 3(a); or 

23 (ii) block or filter spam, prevent crimi24 nal activity, or protect the security of a 

25 platform or service; 

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•S 1409 RS

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

2 browsing behavior, search history, messages, con3 tact list, or other content or metadata of their 

4 communications; 

5 (C) prevent a covered platform from using 

6 a personalized recommendation system to dis7 play content to a minor if the system only uses 

8 information on— 

9 (i) the language spoken by the minor; 

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

11 (iii) the minor’s age; or 

12 (D) prohibit a covered platform from inte13 grating its products or service with controls from 

14 third-party systems, including operating systems 

15 or gaming consoles, to meet the requirements im16 posed under subsections (a) and (b) relating to 

17 safeguards for minors and tools for parents, pro18 vided that— 

19 (i) the controls meet such requirements; 

20 and 

21 (ii) the minor or parent is provided 

22 sufficient notice of the integration and use 

23 of the controls. 

24 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE. 

25 (a) NOTICE.— 

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•S 1409 RS

1 (1) REGISTRATION OR PURCHASE.—Prior to reg2 istration or purchase of a covered platform by an in3 dividual that the platform knows is a minor, the plat4 form shall provide clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-un5 derstand— 

6 (A) notice of the policies and practices of 

7 the covered platform with respect to personal 

8 data and safeguards for minors; 

9 (B) information about how to access the 

10 safeguards and parental tools required under sec11 tion 4; and 

12 (C) notice about whether the covered plat13 form uses or makes available to minors a prod14 uct, service, or feature, including any personal15 ized recommendation system, that poses any 

16 heightened risk of harm to minors. 

17 (2) NOTIFICATION.— 

18 (A) NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—In 

19 the case of an individual that a covered platform 

20 knows is a child, the platform shall additionally 

21 provide information about the parental tools and 

22 safeguards required under section 4 to a parent 

23 of the child and obtain verifiable parental con24 sent (as defined in section 1302(9) of the Chil25 dren’s Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 

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•S 1409 RS

1 6501(9))) from the parent prior to the inital use 

2 of the covered platform by the child. 

3 (B) REASONABLE EFFORT.—A covered plat4 form shall be deemed to have satisfied the re5 quirement described in subparagraph (A) if the 

6 covered platform is in compliance with the re7 quirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Pro8 tection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) to use rea9 sonable efforts (taking into consideration avail10 able technology) to provide a parent with the in11 formation described in subparagraph (A) and to 

12 obtain verifiable parental consent as required. 

13 (3) CONSOLIDATED NOTICES.—A covered plat14 form may consolidate the process for providing infor15 mation under this subsection and obtaining verifiable 

16 parental consent or the consent of the minor involved 

17 (as applicable) as required under this subsection with 

18 its obligations to provide relevant notice and obtain 

19 verifiable parental consent under the Children’s On20 line Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 

21 (4) GUIDANCE.—The Federal Trade Commission 

22 may issue guidance to assist covered platforms in 

23 complying with the requirements of this section. 

24 (b) PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM.—A 

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70 

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1 tion system shall set out in its terms and conditions, in 

2 a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand manner— 

3 (1) an overview of how such personalized rec4 ommendation system is used by the covered platform 

5 to provide information to users of the platform who 

6 are minors, including how such systems use the per7 sonal data of minors; and 

8 (2) information about options for minors or 

9 their parents to opt out of or control the personalized 

10 recommendation system (as applicable). 

11 (c) ADVERTISING AND MARKETING INFORMATION AND

12 LABELS.— 

13 (1) INFORMATION AND LABELS.—A covered plat14 form that facilitates advertising aimed at users that 

15 the platform knows are minors shall provide clear, 

16 conspicuous, and easy-to-understand information and 

17 labels to minors on advertisements regarding— 

18 (A) the name of the product, service, or 

19 brand and the subject matter of an advertise20 ment; 

21 (B) if the covered platform engages in indi22 vidual-specific advertising to minors, why a par23 ticular advertisement is directed to a specific 

24 minor, including material information about 

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1 how the minor’s personal data is used to direct 

2 the advertisement to the minor; and 

3 (C) whether particular media displayed to 

4 the minor is an advertisement or marketing ma5 terial, including disclosure of endorsements of 

6 products, services, or brands made for commer7 cial consideration by other users of the platform. 

8 (2) GUIDANCE.—The Federal Trade Commission 

9 may issue guidance to assist covered platforms in 

10 complying with the requirements of this subsection, 

11 including guidance about the minimum level of infor12 mation and labels for the disclosures required under 

13 paragraph (1) . 

14 (d) RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND MINORS.—A cov15 ered platform shall provide to minors and parents clear, 

16 conspicuous, easy-to-understand, and comprehensive infor17 mation in a prominent location regarding— 

18 (1) its policies and practices with respect to per19 sonal data and safeguards for minors; and 

20 (2) how to access the safeguards and tools re21 quired under section 4. 

22 (e) RESOURCES IN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES.—A cov23 ered platform shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that 

24 the disclosures required by this section are made available 

25 in the same language, form, and manner as the covered 

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1 platform provides any product or service used by minors 

2 and their parents. 

3 SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY. 

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

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

6 a public report describing the reasonably foreseeable risks 

7 of material harms to minors and assessing the prevention 

8 and mitigation measures taken to address such risk based 

9 on an independent, third-party audit conducted through 

10 reasonable inspection of the covered platform. 

11 (b) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—The requirements of this 

12 section shall apply to a covered platform if— 

13 (1) for the most recent calendar year, the plat14 form averaged more than 10,000,000 active users on 

15 a monthly basis in the United States; and 

16 (2) the platform predominantly provides a com17 munity forum for user-generated content and discus18 sion, including sharing videos, images, games, audio 

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

20 such as acting as a social media platform, virtual re21 ality environment, or a social network service. 

22 (c) CONTENT.— 

23 (1) TRANSPARENCY.—The public reports re24 quired of a covered platform under this section shall 

25 include— 

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1 (A) an assessment of the extent to which the 

2 platform is likely to be accessed by minors; 

3 (B) a description of the commercial inter4 ests of the covered platform in use by minors; 

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

6 by the covered platform, of— 

7 (i) the number of individuals using the 

8 covered platform reasonably believed to be 

9 minors in the United States; 

10 (ii) the median and mean amounts of 

11 time spent on the platform by minors in the 

12 United States who have accessed the plat13 form during the reporting year on a daily, 

14 weekly, and monthly basis; and 

15 (iii) the amount of content being 

16 accessed by individuals that the platform 

17 knows to be minors that is in English, and 

18 the top 5 non-English languages used by in19 dividuals accessing the platform in the 

20 United States; 

21 (D) an accounting of total reports received 

22 regarding, and the prevalence (which can be 

23 based on scientifically valid sampling methods 

24 using the content available to the covered plat25 form in the normal course of business) of content 

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1 related to, the harms described in section 3(a), 

2 disaggregated by category of harm and language, 

3 including English and the top 5 non-English 

4 languages used by individuals accessing the plat5 form from the United States (as identified under 

6 subparagraph (C)(iii)); and 

7 (E) a description of any material breaches 

8 of parental tools or assurances regarding minors, 

9 representations regarding the use of the personal 

10 data of minors, and other matters regarding 

11 non-compliance. 

12 (2) REASONABLY FORESEEABLE RISK OF HARM

13 TO MINORS.—The public reports required of a covered 

14 platform under this section shall include— 

15 (A) an assessment of the reasonably foresee16 able risk of harms to minors posed by the covered 

17 platform, including identifying any other phys18 ical, mental, developmental, or financial harms 

19 in addition to those described in section 3(a); 

20 (B) an assessment of how personalized rec21 ommendation systems and individual-specific 

22 advertising to minors can contribute to harms to 

23 minors; 

24 (C) a description of whether and how the 

25 covered platform uses system design features that 

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1 increase, sustain, or extend use of a product or 

2 service by a minor, such as automatic playing of 

3 media, rewards for time spent, and notifications; 

4 (D) a description of whether, how, and for 

5 what purpose the platform collects or processes 

6 categories of personal data that may cause rea7 sonably foreseeable risk of harms to minors; 

8 (E) an evaluation of the efficacy of safe9 guards for minors under section 4, and any 

10 issues in delivering such safeguards and the asso11 ciated parental tools; 

12 (F) an evaluation of any other relevant 

13 matters of public concern over risk of harms to 

14 minors; and 

15 (G) an assessment of differences in risk of 

16 harm to minors across different English and 

17 non-English languages and efficacy of safeguards 

18 in those languages. 

19 (3) MITIGATION.—The public reports required of 

20 a covered platform under this section shall include, 

21 for English and the top 5 non-English languages used 

22 by individuals accessing the platform from the United 

23 States (as identified under paragraph (2)(C)(iii)))— 

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1 (A) a description of the safeguards and pa2 rental tools available to minors and parents on 

3 the covered platform; 

4 (B) a description of interventions by the 

5 covered platform when it had or has reason to 

6 believe that harms to minors could occur; 

7 (C) a description of the prevention and 

8 mitigation measures intended to be taken in re9 sponse to the known and emerging risks identi10 fied in its assessment of system risks, including 

11 steps taken to— 

12 (i) prevent harms to minors, including 

13 adapting or removing system design fea14 tures or addressing through parental con15 trols; 

16 (ii) provide the most protective level of 

17 control over privacy and safety by default; 

18 and 

19 (iii) adapt recommendation systems to 

20 mitigate reasonably foreseeable risk of 

21 harms to minors, as described in section 

22 3(a); 

23 (D) a description of internal processes for 

24 handling reports and automated detection mech25 anisms for harms to minors, including the rate, 

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1 timeliness, and effectiveness of responses under 

2 the requirement of section 4(c); 

3 (E) the status of implementing prevention 

4 and mitigation measures identified in prior as5 sessments; and 

6 (F) a description of the additional measures 

7 to be taken by the covered platform to address the 

8 circumvention of safeguards for minors and pa9 rental tools. 

10 (d) REASONABLE INSPECTION.—In conducting an in11 spection of the systemic risks of harm to minors under this 

12 section, an independent, third-party auditor shall— 

13 (1) take into consideration the function of per14 sonalized recommendation systems; 

15 (2) consult parents and youth experts, including 

16 youth and families with relevant past or current ex17 perience, public health and mental health nonprofit 

18 organizations, health and development organizations, 

19 and civil society with respect to the prevention of 

20 harms to minors; 

21 (3) conduct research based on experiences of mi22 nors that use the covered platform, including reports 

23 under section 4(c) and information provided by law 

24 enforcement; 

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1 (4) take account of research, including research 

2 regarding system design features, marketing, or prod3 uct integrity, industry best practices, or outside re4 search; 

5 (5) consider indicia or inferences of age of users, 

6 in addition to any self-declared information about the 

7 age of individuals; and 

8 (6) take into consideration differences in risk of 

9 reasonably foreseeable harms and effectiveness of safe10 guards across English and non-English languages. 

11 (e) COOPERATION WITH INDEPENDENT, THIRD-PARTY

12 AUDIT.—To facilitate the report required by subsection (c), 

13 a covered platform shall— 

14 (1) provide or otherwise make available to the 

15 independent third-party conducting the audit all in16 formation and material in its possession, custody, or 

17 control that is relevant to the audit; 

18 (2) provide or otherwise make available to the 

19 independent third-party conducting the audit access 

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

21 audit; and 

22 (3) disclose all relevant facts to the independent 

23 third-party conducting the audit, and not misrepre24 sent in any manner, expressly or by implication, any 

25 relevant fact. 

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1 (f) PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS.— 

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

3 required under this section, a covered platform shall 

4 take steps to safeguard the privacy of its users, in5 cluding ensuring that data is presented in a de-iden6 tified, aggregated format such that it is reasonably 

7 impossible for the data to be linked back to any indi8 vidual user. 

9 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall 

10 not be construed to require the disclosure of informa11 tion that will lead to material vulnerabilities for the 

12 privacy of users or the security of a covered plat13 form’s service or create a significant risk of the viola14 tion of Federal or State law. 

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

16 this subsection, the term ‘‘de-identified’’ means data 

17 that does not identify and is not linked or reasonably 

18 linkable to a device that is linked or reasonably 

19 linkable to an individual, regardless of whether the 

20 information is aggregated 

21 (g) LOCATION.—The public reports required under this 

22 section should be posted by a covered platform on an easy 

23 to find location on a publicly-available website. 

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1 SEC. 7. INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND 

2 MINORS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

5 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

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

7 Academy’’ means the National Academy of Sciences. 

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

9 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

10 (b) RESEARCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA HARMS.—Not later 

11 than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

12 Commission shall seek to enter into a contract with the Na13 tional Academy, under which the National Academy shall 

14 conduct no less than 5 scientific, comprehensive studies and 

15 reports on the risk of harms to minors by use of social 

16 media and other online platforms, including in English and 

17 non-English languages. 

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

19 with the National Academy, the Commission, in consulta20 tion with the Secretary, shall seek to commission separate 

21 studies and reports, using the Commission’s authority 

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

23 (15 U.S.C. 46(b)), on the relationship between social media 

24 and other online platforms as defined in this Act on the 

25 following matters: 

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1 (1) Anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and su2 icidal behaviors. 

3 (2) Substance use disorders and the use of nar4 cotic drugs, tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol by 

5 minors. 

6 (3) Sexual exploitation and abuse. 

7 (4) Addiction-like use of social media and design 

8 factors that lead to unhealthy and harmful overuse of 

9 social media. 

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

11 after enactment, the Commission shall seek to enter into a 

12 contract with the National Academy under which the Na13 tional Academy shall conduct an additional study and re14 port covering the matters described in subsection (c) for the 

15 purposes of providing additional information, considering 

16 new research, and other matters. 

17 (e) CONTENT OF REPORTS.— The comprehensive stud18 ies and reports conducted pursuant to this section shall seek 

19 to evaluate impacts and advance understanding, knowledge, 

20 and remedies regarding the harms to minors posed by social 

21 media and other online platforms, and may include rec22 ommendations related to public policy. 

23 (f) ACTIVE STUDIES.—If the National Academy is en24 gaged in any active studies on the matters described in sub25 section (c) at the time that it enters into a contract with 

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1 the Commission to conduct a study under this section, it 

2 may base the study to be conducted under this section on 

3 the active study, so long as it otherwise incorporates the 

4 requirements of this section. 

5 (g) COLLABORATION.—In designing and conducting 

6 the studies under this section, the Commission, the Sec7 retary, and the National Academy shall consult with the 

8 Surgeon General and the Kids Online Safety Council. 

9 (h) ACCESS TO DATA.— 

10 (1) FACT-FINDING AUTHORITY.—The Commis11 sion may issue orders to gather and compile informa12 tion and data necessary to conduct the studies re13 quired under this section. 

14 (2) SCOPE.—The Commission may issue orders 

15 under section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 46(b)) to no more than 5 covered plat17 forms per study under this section. 

18 (3) CONFIDENTIAL ACCESS.—Pursuant to sub19 sections (b) and (f) of section 6 of the Federal Trade 

20 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46), the Commission shall 

21 enter in agreements with the National Academy to 

22 share appropriate information received from a cov23 ered platform pursuant to an order under such sub24 section (b) for a comprehensive study under this sec25 tion in a confidential and secure manner, and to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1409.RS S1409
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1 hibit the disclosure or sharing of such information by 

2 the National Academy. 

3 SEC. 8. MARKET RESEARCH. 

4 (a) MARKET RESEARCH BY COVERED PLATFORMS.— 

5 The Federal Trade Commission, in consultation with the 

6 Secretary of Commerce, shall issue guidance for covered 

7 platforms seeking to conduct market- and product-focused 

8 research on minors. Such guidance shall include— 

9 (1) a standard consent form that provides mi10 nors and their parents a clear, conspicuous, and easy11 to-understand explanation of the scope and purpose of 

12 the research to be conducted, and provides an oppor13 tunity for informed consent in the language in which 

14 the parent uses the covered platform; and 

15 (2) recommendations for research practices for 

16 studies that may include minors, disaggregated by the 

17 age ranges of 0-5, 6-9, 10-12, and 13-16. 

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

19 issue such guidance not later than 18 months after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act. In doing so, they shall seek input 

21 from members of the public and the representatives of the 

22 Kids Online Safety Council established under section 12. 

23 SEC. 9. AGE VERIFICATION STUDY AND REPORT. 

24 (a) STUDY.—The Director of the National Institute of 

25 Standards and Technology, in coordination with the FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1409.RS S1409
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1 eral Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commis2 sion, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall conduct a study 

3 evaluating the most technologically feasible methods and op4 tions for developing systems to verify age at the device or 

5 operating system level. 

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

7 (1) the benefits of creating a device or operating 

8 system level age verification system; 

9 (2) what information may need to be collected to 

10 create this type of age verification system; 

11 (3) the accuracy of such systems and their im12 pact or steps to improve accessibility, including for 

13 individuals with disabilities; 

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

15 age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data 

16 security and safeguarding minors’ personal data, em17 phasizing minimizing the amount of data collected 

18 and processed by covered platforms and age 

19 verification providers for such a system; 

20 (5) the technical feasibility, including the need 

21 for potential hardware and software changes, includ22 ing for devices currently in commerce and owned by 

23 consumers; and 

24 (6) the impact of different age verification sys25 tems on competition, particularly the risk of different 

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1 age verification systems creating barriers to entry for 

2 small companies. 

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

4 enactment of this Act, the agencies described in subsection 

5 (a) shall submit a report containing the results of the study 

6 conducted under such subsection to the Committee on Com7 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep9 resentatives. 

10 SEC. 10. GUIDANCE. 

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

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis13 sion, in consultation with the Kids Online Safety Council 

14 established under section 12, shall issue guidance to— 

15 (1) provide information and examples for cov16 ered platforms and auditors regarding the following, 

17 with consideration given to differences across English 

18 and non-English languages— 

19 (A) identifying features that are used to in20 crease, sustain, or extend use of the covered plat21 form by a minor; 

22 (B) safeguarding minors against the pos23 sible misuse of parental tools; 

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1 (C) best practices in providing minors and 

2 parents the most protective level of control over 

3 privacy and safety; 

4 (D) using indicia or inferences of age of 

5 users for assessing use of the covered platform by 

6 minors; 

7 (E) methods for evaluating the efficacy of 

8 safeguards; and 

9 (F) providing additional control options 

10 that allow parents to address the harms de11 scribed in section 3(a); and 

12 (2) outline conduct that does not have the pur13 pose or substantial effect of subverting or impairing 

14 user autonomy, decision-making, or choice, or of caus15 ing, increasing, or encouraging compulsive usage for 

16 a minor, such as— 

17 (A) de minimis user interface changes de18 rived from testing consumer preferences, includ19 ing different styles, layouts, or text, where such 

20 changes are not done with the purpose of weak21 ening or disabling safeguards or parental con22 trols; 

23 (B) algorithms or data outputs outside the 

24 control of a covered platform; and 

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1 (C) establishing default settings that provide 

2 enhanced privacy protection to users or otherwise 

3 enhance their autonomy and decision-making 

4 ability. 

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

6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 of Education, in consultation with the Federal Trade Com8 mission and the Kids Online Safety Council established 

9 under section 12, shall issue guidance to assist to assist ele10 mentary and secondary schools in using the notice, safe11 guards and tools provided under this Act and providing 

12 information on online safety for students and teachers. 

13 (c) GUIDANCE ON KNOWLEDGE STANDARD.—Not later 

14 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Federal Trade Commission shall issue guidance to provide 

16 information, including best practices and examples, for cov17 ered platforms to understand the Commission’s determina18 tion of whether a covered platform ‘‘had knowledge fairly 

19 implied on the basis of objective circumstances’’ for pur20 poses of this Act. 

21 (d) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

22 GUIDANCE.— 

23 (1) EFFECT OF GUIDANCE.—No guidance issued 

24 by the Federal Trade Commission with respect to this 

25 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 Com4 mission or any person to the approach rec5 ommended in such guidance. 

6 (2) USE IN ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—In any en7 forcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the 

8 Federal Trade Commission— 

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

10 this Act; and 

11 (B) may not base such enforcement action 

12 on, or execute a consent order based on, practices 

13 that are alleged to be inconsistent with guidance 

14 issued by the Federal Trade Commission with re15 spect to this Act, unless the practices are alleged 

16 to violate a provision of this Act. 

17 SEC. 11. ENFORCEMENT. 

18 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS19 SION.— 

20 (1) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC21 TICES.—A violation of this Act shall be treated as a 

22 violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act 

23 or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 

24 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

25 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

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1 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Com3 mission (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Com4 mission’’) shall enforce this Act in the same 

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

6 jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all ap7 plicable terms and provisions of the Federal 

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

9 were incorporated into and made a part of this 

10 Act. 

11 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

12 person that violates this Act shall be subject to 

13 the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and 

14 immunities, provided in the Federal Trade Com15 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

16 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 

17 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 

18 Commission under any other provision of law. 

19 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

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

22 the attorney general of a State has reason to be23 lieve that an interest of the residents of that 

24 State has been or is threatened or adversely af25 fected by the engagement of any person in a 

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1 practice that violates this Act, the State, as 

2 parens patriae, may bring a civil action on be3 half of the residents of the State in a district 

4 court of the United States or a State court of ap5 propriate jurisdiction to— 

6 (i) enjoin that practice; 

7 (ii) enforce compliance with this Act; 

8 (iii) on behalf of residents of the State, 

9 obtain damages, restitution, or other com10 pensation, each of which shall be distributed 

11 in accordance with State law; or 

12 (iv) obtain such other relief as the 

13 court may consider to be appropriate. 

14 (B) NOTICE.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—Before filing an ac16 tion under subparagraph (A), the attorney 

17 general of the State involved shall provide 

18 to the Commission— 

19 (I) written notice of that action; 

20 and 

21 (II) a copy of the complaint for 

22 that action. 

23 (ii) EXEMPTION.— 

24 (I) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) shall 

25 not apply with respect to the filing of 

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1 an action by an attorney general of a 

2 State under this paragraph if the at3 torney general of the State determines 

4 that it is not feasible to provide the no5 tice described in that clause before the 

6 filing of the action. 

7 (II) NOTIFICATION.—In an action 

8 described in subclause (I), the attorney 

9 general of a State shall provide notice 

10 and a copy of the complaint to the 

11 Commission at the same time as the 

12 attorney general files the action. 

13 (2) INTERVENTION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—On receiving notice 

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

16 have the right to intervene in the action that is 

17 the subject of the notice. 

18 (B) EFFECT OF INTERVENTION.—If the 

19 Commission intervenes in an action under para20 graph (1), it shall have the right— 

21 (i) to be heard with respect to any 

22 matter that arises in that action; and 

23 (ii) to file a petition for appeal. 

24 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing 

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

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1 Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney general 

2 of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the 

3 attorney general by the laws of that State to— 

4 (A) conduct investigations; 

5 (B) administer oaths or affirmations; or 

6 (C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 

7 the production of documentary and other evi8 dence. 

9 (4) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—In any case 

10 in which an action is instituted by or on behalf of the 

11 Commission for violation of this Act, no State may, 

12 during the pendency of that action, institute a sepa13 rate action under paragraph (1) against any defend14 ant named in the complaint in the action instituted 

15 by or on behalf of the Commission for that violation. 

16 (5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

17 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 

18 paragraph (1) may be brought in— 

19 (i) the district court of the United 

20 States that meets applicable requirements 

21 relating to venue under section 1391 of title 

22 28, United States Code; or 

23 (ii) a State court of competent juris24 diction. 

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

2 brought under paragraph (1) in a district court 

3 of the United States, process may be served wher4 ever defendant— 

5 (i) is an inhabitant; or 

6 (ii) may be found. 

7 SEC. 12. KIDS ONLINE SAFETY COUNCIL. 

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

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce 

10 shall establish and convene the Kids Online Safety Council 

11 for the purpose of providing advice on matters related to 

12 this Act. 

13 (b) PARTICIPATION.—The Kids Online Safety Council 

14 shall include diverse participation from— 

15 (1) academic experts, health professionals, and 

16 members of civil society with expertise in mental 

17 health, substance use disorders, and the prevention of 

18 harms to minors; 

19 (2) representatives in academia and civil society 

20 with specific expertise in privacy and civil liberties; 

21 (3) parents and youth representation; 

22 (4) representatives of covered platforms; 

23 (5) representatives of the National Telecommuni24 cations and Information Administration, the Na25 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, the 

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1 Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Jus2 tice, and the Department of Health and Human Serv3 ices; 

4 (6) State attorneys general or their designees act5 ing in State or local government; 

6 (7) educators; and 

7 (8) representatives of communities of socially 

8 disadvantaged individuals (as defined in section 8 of 

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

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

11 Kids Online Safety Council shall include— 

12 (1) identifying emerging or current risks of 

13 harms to minors associated with online platforms; 

14 (2) recommending measures and methods for as15 sessing, preventing, and mitigating harms to minors 

16 online; 

17 (3) recommending methods and themes for con18 ducting research regarding online harms to minors, 

19 including in English and non-English languages; and 

20 (4) recommending best practices and clear, con21 sensus-based technical standards for transparency re22 ports and audits, as required under this Act, includ23 ing methods, criteria, and scope to promote overall 

24 accountability. 

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1 SEC. 13. FILTER BUBBLE TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) ALGORITHMIC RANKING SYSTEM.—The term 

4 ‘‘algorithmic ranking system’’ means a computational 

5 process, including one derived from algorithmic deci6 sion-making, machine learning, statistical analysis, 

7 or other data processing or artificial intelligence tech8 niques, used to determine the selection, order, relative 

9 prioritization, or relative prominence of content from 

10 a set of information that is provided to a user on a 

11 covered internet platform, including the ranking of 

12 search results, the provision of content recommenda13 tions, the display of social media posts, or any other 

14 method of automated content selection. 

15 (2) APPROXIMATE GEOLOCATION INFORMA16 TION.—The term ‘‘approximate geolocation informa17 tion’’ means information that identifies the location 

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

19 miles. 

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

21 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

22 (4) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘connected 

23 device’’ means an electronic device that— 

24 (A) is capable of connecting to the internet, 

25 either directly or indirectly through a network, 

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1 to communicate information at the direction of 

2 an individual; 

3 (B) has computer processing capabilities for 

4 collecting, sending, receiving, or analyzing data; 

5 and 

6 (C) is primarily designed for or marketed to 

7 consumers. 

8 (5) COVERED INTERNET PLATFORM.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered inter10 net platform’’ means any public-facing website, 

11 internet application, or mobile application, in12 cluding a social network site, video sharing serv13 ice, search engine, or content aggregation service. 

14 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term shall not in15 clude a platform that— 

16 (i) is wholly owned, controlled, and op17 erated by a person that— 

18 (I) for the most recent 6-month 

19 period, did not employ more than 500 

20 employees; 

21 (II) for the most recent 3-year pe22 riod, averaged less than $50,000,000 in 

23 annual gross revenue; and 

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1 (III) collects or processes on an 

2 annual basis the user-specific data of 

3 less than 1,000,000 users; or 

4 (ii) is operated for the sole purpose of 

5 conducting research that is not made for 

6 profit either directly or indirectly. 

7 (6) INPUT-TRANSPARENT ALGORITHM.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘input-trans9 parent algorithm’’ means an algorithmic rank10 ing system that does not use the user-specific 

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

12 relative prioritization, or relative prominence of 

13 information that is furnished to such user on a 

14 covered internet platform, unless the user-specific 

15 data is expressly provided to the platform by the 

16 user for such purpose. 

17 (B) DATA PROVIDED FOR EXPRESS PUR18 POSE OF INTERACTION WITH PLATFORM.—For 

19 purposes of subparagraph (A), user-specific data 

20 that is provided by a user for the express purpose 

21 of determining the selection, order, relative 

22 prioritization, or relative prominence of infor23 mation that is furnished to such user on a cov24 ered internet platform— 

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1 (i) shall include user-supplied search 

2 terms, filters, speech patterns (if provided 

3 for the purpose of enabling the platform to 

4 accept spoken input or selecting the lan5 guage in which the user interacts with the 

6 platform), saved preferences, and the cur7 rent precise geolocation information that is 

8 supplied by the user; 

9 (ii) shall include the user’s current ap10 proximate geolocation information; 

11 (iii) shall include data affirmatively 

12 supplied to the platform by the user that ex13 presses the user’s desire to receive particular 

14 information, such as the social media pro15 files the user follows, the video channels the 

16 user subscribes to, or other content or 

17 sources of content on the platform the user 

18 has selected; 

19 (iv) shall not include the history of the 

20 user’s connected device, including the user’s 

21 history of web searches and browsing, pre22 vious geographical locations, physical activ23 ity, device interaction, and financial trans24 actions; and 

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1 (v) shall not include inferences about 

2 the user or the user’s connected device, with3 out regard to whether such inferences are 

4 based on data described in clause (i) or 

5 (iii). 

6 (7) OPAQUE ALGORITHM.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘opaque algo8 rithm’’ means an algorithmic ranking system 

9 that determines the selection, order, relative 

10 prioritization, or relative prominence of infor11 mation that is furnished to such user on a cov12 ered internet platform based, in whole or part, 

13 on user-specific data that was not expressly pro14 vided by the user to the platform for such pur15 pose. 

16 (B) EXCEPTION FOR AGE-APPROPRIATE

17 CONTENT FILTERS.—Such term shall not include 

18 an algorithmic ranking system used by a covered 

19 internet 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.—The 

4 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) SEARCH SYNDICATION CONTRACT; UPSTREAM

8 PROVIDER; DOWNSTREAM PROVIDER.— 

9 (A) SEARCH SYNDICATION CONTRACT.—The 

10 term ‘‘search syndication contract’’ means a con11 tract or subcontract for the sale of, license of, or 

12 other right to access an index of web pages or 

13 search results on the internet for the purpose of 

14 operating an internet search engine. 

15 (B) UPSTREAM PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘up16 stream provider’’ means, with respect to a search 

17 syndication contract, the person that grants ac18 cess to an index of web pages or search results 

19 on the internet to a downstream provider pursu20 ant to the contract. 

21 (C) DOWNSTREAM PROVIDER.—The term 

22 ‘‘downstream provider’’ means, with respect to a 

23 search syndication contract, the person that re24 ceives access to an index of web pages on the 

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1 internet from an upstream provider under such 

2 contract. 

3 (10) USER-SPECIFIC DATA.—The term ‘‘user-spe4 cific data’’ means information relating to an indi5 vidual or a specific connected device that would not 

6 necessarily be true of every individual or device. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW USERS TO SEE

8 UNMANIPULATED CONTENT ON INTERNET PLATFORMS.— 

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

10 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall 

11 be unlawful— 

12 (A) for any person to operate a covered 

13 internet platform that uses an opaque algorithm 

14 unless the person complies with the requirements 

15 of paragraph (2); or 

16 (B) for any upstream provider to grant ac17 cess to an index of web pages on the internet 

18 under a search syndication contract that does 

19 not comply with the requirements of paragraph 

20 (3). 

21 (2) OPAQUE ALGORITHM REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this 

23 paragraph with respect to a person that operates 

24 a covered internet platform that uses an opaque 

25 algorithm are the following: 

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1 (i) The person provides notice to users 

2 of the platform— 

3 (I) that the platform uses an 

4 opaque algorithm that uses user-spe5 cific data to select the content the user 

6 sees. Such notice shall be presented in 

7 a clear, conspicuous manner on the 

8 platform whenever the user interacts 

9 with an opaque algorithm for the first 

10 time, and may be a one-time notice 

11 that can be dismissed by the user; and 

12 (II) in the terms and conditions 

13 of the covered internet platform, in a 

14 clear, accessible, and easily comprehen15 sible manner to be updated no less fre16 quently than once every 6 months— 

17 (aa) the most salient fea18 tures, inputs, and parameters 

19 used by the algorithm; 

20 (bb) how any user-specific 

21 data used by the algorithm is col22 lected or inferred about a user of 

23 the platform, and the categories of 

24 such data; 

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1 (cc) any options that the cov2 ered internet platform makes 

3 available for a user of the plat4 form to opt out or exercise options 

5 under clause (ii), modify the pro6 file of the user or to influence the 

7 features, inputs, or parameters 

8 used by the algorithm; and 

9 (dd) any quantities, such as 

10 time spent using a product or spe11 cific measures of engagement or 

12 social interaction, that the algo13 rithm is designed to optimize, as 

14 well as a general description of 

15 the relative importance of each 

16 quantity for such ranking. 

17 (ii) The person makes available a 

18 version of the platform that uses an input19 transparent algorithm and enables users to 

20 easily switch between the version of the 

21 platform that uses an opaque algorithm and 

22 the version of the platform that uses the 

23 input-transparent algorithm. 

24 (B) NONAPPLICATION TO CERTAIN DOWN25 STREAM PROVIDERS.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

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1 not apply with respect to an internet search en2 gine if— 

3 (i) the search engine is operated by a 

4 downstream provider with fewer than 1,000 

5 employees; and 

6 (ii) the search engine uses an index of 

7 web pages on the internet to which such 

8 provider received access under a search syn9 dication contract. 

10 (3) SEARCH SYNDICATION CONTRACT REQUIRE11 MENT.—The requirements of this paragraph with re12 spect to a search syndication contract are that— 

13 (A) as part of the contract, the upstream 

14 provider makes available to the downstream pro15 vider the same input-transparent algorithm used 

16 by the upstream provider for purposes of com17 plying with paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and 

18 (B) the upstream provider does not impose 

19 any additional costs, degraded quality, reduced 

20 speed, or other constraint on the functioning of 

21 such algorithm when used by the downstream 

22 provider to operate an internet search engine rel23 ative to the performance of such algorithm when 

24 used by the upstream provider to operate an 

25 internet search engine. 

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1 (4) PROHIBITION ON DIFFERENTIAL PRICING.—A 

2 covered internet platform shall not deny, charge dif3 ferent prices or rates for, or condition the provision 

4 of a service or product to an individual based on the 

5 individual’s election to use a version of the platform 

6 that uses an input-transparent algorithm as provided 

7 under paragraph (2)(A)(ii). 

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 a covered internet platform shall be treated as a vio13 lation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act 

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

15 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

17 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (C), the Federal Trade Commis20 sion shall enforce this section in the same man21 ner, by the same means, and with the same juris22 diction, powers, and duties as though all appli23 cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 

24 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in25 corporated into and made a part of this section. 

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1 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Except 

2 as provided in subparagraph (C), any person 

3 who violates this Act shall be subject to the pen4 alties and entitled to the privileges and immuni5 ties provided in the Federal Trade Commission 

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

7 (C) COMMON CARRIERS AND NONPROFIT OR8 GANIZATIONS.—Notwithstanding section 4, 

9 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any jurisdic11 tional limitation of the Commission, the Com12 mission shall also enforce this Act, in the same 

13 manner provided in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

14 of this paragraph, with respect to— 

15 (i) common carriers subject to the 

16 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

17 151 et seq.) and Acts amendatory thereof 

18 and supplementary thereto; and 

19 (ii) organizations not organized to 

20 carry on business for their own profit or 

21 that of their members. 

22 (D) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 

23 this section shall be construed to limit the au24 thority of the Commission under any other pro25 vision of law. 

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1 (3) RULE OF APPLICATION.—Section 11 shall not 

2 apply to this section. 

3 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION TO PRESERVE PERSON4 ALIZED BLOCKS.—Nothing in this section shall be con5 strued to limit or prohibit a covered internet platform’s 

6 ability to, at the direction of an individual user or group 

7 of users, restrict another user from searching for, finding, 

8 accessing, or interacting with such user’s or group’s ac9 count, content, data, or online community. 

10 SEC. 14. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act shall 

12 take effect on the date that is 18 months after the date of 

13 enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 15. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER MATTERS. 

15 (a) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 

16 Act shall be construed to— 

17 (1) preempt section 444 of the General Edu18 cation Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly 

19 known as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Pri20 vacy Act of 1974’’) or other Federal or State laws 

21 governing student privacy; 

22 (2) preempt the Children’s Online Privacy Pro23 tection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) or any 

24 rule or regulation promulgated under such Act; or 

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1 (3) authorize any action that would conflict with 

2 section 18(h) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 57a(h)). 

4 (b) DETERMINATION OF ‘‘FAIRLY IMPLIED ON THE

5 BASIS OF OBJECTIVE CIRCUMSTANCES’’.—For purposes of 

6 enforcing this Act, in making a determination as to whether 

7 covered platform has knowledge fairly implied on the basis 

8 of objective circumstances that a user is a minor, the Fed9 eral Trade Commission shall rely on competent and reliable 

10 empirical evidence, taking into account the totality of the 

11 circumstances, including consideration of whether the oper12 ator, using available technology, exercised reasonable care. 

13 (c) PROTECTIONS FOR PRIVACY.—Nothing in this Act 

14 shall be construed to require— 

15 (1) the affirmative collection of any personal 

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

17 platform is not already collecting in the normal 

18 course of business; or 

19 (2) a covered platform to implement an age gat20 ing or age verification functionality. 

21 (d) COMPLIANCE.—Nothing in this Act shall be con22 strued to restrict a covered platform’s ability to— 

23 (1) cooperate with law enforcement agencies re24 garding activity that the covered platform reasonably 

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1 and in good faith believes may violate Federal, State, 

2 or local laws, rules, or regulations; 

3 (2) comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory 

4 inquiry or any investigation, subpoena, or summons 

5 by Federal, State, local, or other government authori6 ties; or 

7 (3) investigate, establish, exercise, respond to, or 

8 defend against legal claims. 

9 (e) APPLICATION TO VIDEO STREAMING SERVICES.— 

10 A video streaming service shall be deemed to be in compli11 ance with this Act if it predominantly consists of news, 

12 sports, entertainment, or other video programming content 

13 that is preselected by the provider and not user-generated, 

14 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 on-de24 mand content selected by a personalized recVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00109 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1409.RS S1409
110 

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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 and delete any personal data collected 

7 from the minor on the service, or, in the case of 

8 a service that allows a parent to create a profile 

9 for a minor, to allow a parent to delete the mi10 nor’s profile, and to delete any personal data col11 lected from the minor on the service; 

12 (D) for a parent to manage a minor’s pri13 vacy and account settings, and restrict purchases 

14 and financial transactions by a minor, where 

15 applicable; 

16 (E) to provide an electronic point of contact 

17 specific to matters described in this paragraph; 

18 (F) to offer a clear, conspicuous, and easy19 to-understand notice of its policies and practices 

20 with respect to personal data and the capabili21 ties described in this paragraph; and 

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

23 employ measures that safeguard against serving 

24 advertising for narcotic drugs (as defined in sec25 tion 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

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1 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, or al2 cohol directly to the account or profile of an in3 dividual that the service knows is a minor. 

4 SEC. 16. SEVERABILITY. 

5 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

6 by this Act, is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, 

7 the remaining provisions of this Act and the amendments 

8 made by this Act shall not be affected. 

Calendar No. 287 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1409 

A BILL 

To protect the safety of children on the internet. 

DECEMBER 13, 2023 

Reported with an amendment