I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5173 
To require social media companies to use geofencing to block access to 
their social media platforms on K–12 education campuses, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2025 
Ms. CRAIG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require social media companies to use geofencing to block 
access to their social media platforms on K–12 education 
campuses, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Social Media at 
School Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO BLOCK ACCESS TO SOCIAL 
MEDIA ON K–12 EDUCATION CAMPUSES. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—A social media company shall 
use geofencing to block access to their social media plat-
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form on a K–12 education campus during the regular 
school day (as determined by the local educational agency 
associated with such campus), except for any push notifi-
cation that includes a weather alert, an amber alert, and 
other uses from emergency responders for public safety 
purposes. 
(b) PROTECTIONS FOR PRIVACY.—Nothing in this 
section may be construed to require— 
(1) the affirmative collection of any personal 
data with respect to the age of users by a social 
media company that the company is not already col-
lecting in the normal course of business; or 
(2) a social media company to implement an 
age gating or age verification functionality. 
(c) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COM-
MISSION.— 
(A) UNFAIR
AND
DECEPTIVE
ACTS
OR 
PRACTICES.—A violation of this section shall be 
treated as a violation of a rule defining an un-
fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed 
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(B) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 
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(i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 
Commission shall enforce this section in 
the same manner, by the same means, and 
with the same jurisdiction, powers, and du-
ties as though all applicable terms and pro-
visions of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor-
porated into and made a part of this sec-
tion. 
(ii) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.— 
Any person that violates this section shall 
be subject to the penalties, and entitled to 
the privileges and immunities, provided in 
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
(C) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to limit the au-
thority of the Commission under any other pro-
vision of law. 
(d) ENFORCEMENT
BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN-
ERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
(A) CIVIL ACTIONS.—In any case in which 
the attorney general of a State has reason to 
believe that a covered platform has violated or 
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is violating this section, the State, as parens 
patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of 
the residents of the State in a district court of 
the United States or a State court of appro-
priate jurisdiction to— 
(i) enjoin any practice that violates 
subsection (a); 
(ii) enforce compliance with subsection 
(a); 
(iii) on behalf of residents of the 
State, obtain damages, restitution, or other 
compensation, each of which shall be dis-
tributed in accordance with State law; or 
(iv) obtain such other relief as the 
court may consider to be appropriate. 
(B) NOTICE.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Before filing an ac-
tion under subparagraph (A), the attorney 
general of the State involved shall provide 
to the Commission— 
(I) written notice of that action; 
and 
(II) a copy of the complaint for 
that action. 
(ii) EXEMPTION.— 
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(I) IN
GENERAL.—Clause (i) 
shall not apply with respect to the fil-
ing of an action by an attorney gen-
eral of a State under this paragraph 
if the attorney general of the State 
determines that it is not feasible to 
provide the notice described in that 
clause before the filing of the action. 
(II) NOTIFICATION.—In an ac-
tion described in subclause (I), the at-
torney general of a State shall provide 
notice and a copy of the complaint to 
the Commission at the same time as 
the attorney general files the action. 
(2) INTERVENTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—On receiving notice 
under paragraph (1)(B), the Commission shall 
have the right to intervene in the action that is 
the subject of the notice. 
(B) EFFECT
OF
INTERVENTION.—If the 
Commission intervenes in an action under para-
graph (1), the Commission shall have the 
right— 
(i) to remove the action to the appro-
priate United States district court; 
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(ii) to be heard with respect to any 
matter that arises in that action; and 
(iii) to file a petition for appeal. 
(3) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing 
any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this 
section shall be construed to prevent an attorney 
general of a State from exercising the powers con-
ferred on the attorney general by the laws of that 
State to— 
(A) conduct investigations; 
(B) administer oaths or affirmations; or 
(C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 
the production of documentary and other evi-
dence. 
(4) ACTIONS
BY
THE
COMMISSION.—In any 
case in which an action is instituted by or on behalf 
of the Commission for violation of this section, no 
State may, during the pendency of that action, insti-
tute a separate action under paragraph (1) against 
any defendant named in the complaint in the action 
instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for 
that violation. 
(5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 
(A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 
paragraph (1) may be brought in— 
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(i) the district court of the United 
States that meets applicable requirements 
relating to venue under section 1391 of 
title 28, United States Code; or 
(ii) a State court of competent juris-
diction. 
(B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 
brought under paragraph (1) in a district court 
of the United States, process may be served 
wherever defendant— 
(i) is an inhabitant; or 
(ii) may be found. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(2) GEOFENCING.—The term ‘‘geofencing’’ 
means a virtual boundary maintained by a social 
media platform. 
(3) K–12 EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘K–12 edu-
cation’’ means an elementary school or secondary 
school (as such terms are defined in section 8101 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)). 
(4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 
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such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(5) SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY.—The term ‘‘social 
media company’’— 
(A) means a company that runs a social 
media platform; and 
(B) does not include— 
(i) an organization not organized to 
carry on business for its own profit or that 
of its members; or 
(ii) an educational agency or institu-
tion (as defined in section 444 of the Gen-
eral Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 
1232g(a)(3))). 
(6) SOCIAL MEDIAL PLATFORM.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘social media 
platform’’ means a public-facing website, online 
service, online application, or mobile application 
that— 
(i) is directed to consumers; 
(ii) collects personal data; 
(iii) primarily derives revenue from 
advertising or the sale of personal data; 
and 
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(iv) as the primary function provides 
a community forum for user-generated 
content, including messages, videos, and 
audio files among users where such content 
is primarily intended for viewing, re-
sharing, or platform-enabled distributed 
social endorsement or comment. 
(B) LIMITATION.—The term ‘‘social medial 
platform’’ does not include a platform that, as 
the primary function for consumers, provides or 
facilitates any of the following: 
(i) The purchase and sale of commer-
cial goods. 
(ii) 
Teleconferencing 
or 
videoconferencing services that allow recep-
tion and transmission of audio or video 
signals for real-time communication, pro-
vided that the real-time communication is 
initiated by using a unique link or identi-
fier to facilitate access. 
(iii) Crowd-sourced reference guides 
such as encyclopedias and dictionaries. 
(iv) Cloud storage, file sharing, or file 
collaboration services, including such serv-
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ices that allow collaborative editing by in-
vited users. 
(v) The playing or creation of video 
games. 
(vi) Content that consists primarily of 
news, sports, sports coverage, entertain-
ment, or other information or content that 
is not user-generated but is preselected by 
the platform and for which any chat, com-
ment, or interactive functionality is inci-
dental, directly related to, or dependent on 
the provision of the content provided by 
the platform. 
(vii) Business, product, or travel in-
formation 
including 
user 
reviews 
or 
rankings of such businesses, products, or 
other travel information. 
(viii) Educational information, experi-
ences, training, or instruction provided to 
build knowledge, skills, or a craft, district- 
sanctioned or school-sanctioned learning 
management systems and school informa-
tion systems for the purposes of schools 
conveying content related to the education 
of students, or services or services on be-
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half of or in support of an elementary 
school or secondary school, as such terms 
are defined in section 8101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(ix) An email service. 
(x) A wireless messaging service, in-
cluding such a service provided through 
short message service or multimedia mes-
saging protocols, that is not a component 
of, or linked to, a social media platform 
and where the predominant or exclusive 
function of the messaging service is direct 
messaging consisting of the transmission of 
text, photos, or videos that are sent by 
electronic means, where messages are 
transmitted from the sender to the recipi-
ent and are not posted publicly or within 
a social media platform. 
(xi) A broadband internet access serv-
ice (as such term is defined for purposes of 
section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or any successor regulation). 
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(xii) A virtual private network or simi-
lar service that exists solely to route inter-
net traffic between locations. 
Æ 
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