I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 821 
To require providers of social media platforms to prohibit children under 
the age of 16 from accessing such social media platforms, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 2, 2023 
Mr. STEWART introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require providers of social media platforms to prohibit 
children under the age of 16 from accessing such social 
media platforms, 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 ‘‘Social Media Child 
Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A provider of a social media plat-
form— 
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(1) may not permit a child to access such social 
media platform; 
(2) may not permit any individual to access 
such social media platform unless such provider has 
verified the age of such individual by— 
(A) requiring such individual to provide a 
valid identity document issued by the Federal 
Government or a State or local government, 
such as a birth certificate, driver’s license, or 
passport; or 
(B) using another reasonable method of 
verification (taking into consideration available 
technology); and 
(3) shall establish and maintain reasonable pro-
cedures to protect the confidentiality, security, and 
integrity of the personal information of users and 
prospective users of such social media platform, 
which shall be consistent with the procedures re-
quired under section 1303(b)(1)(D) of the Children’s 
Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 
6502(b)(1)(D)). 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COM-
MISSION.— 
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(A) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC-
TICES.—A violation of this section shall be 
treated as a violation of a regulation under sec-
tion 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding 
unfair or deceptive acts or practices. 
(B) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Com-
mission shall enforce this section in the same 
manner, by the same means, and with the same 
jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 
were incorporated into and made a part of this 
section. Any person who violates this section 
shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to 
the privileges and immunities provided in the 
Federal Trade Commission Act. 
(2) ACTIONS BY STATES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.— 
(i) CIVIL ACTIONS.—In any case in 
which the attorney general of a State has 
reason to believe that an interest of the 
residents of such State has been or is 
threatened or adversely affected by the en-
gagement of a provider of a social media 
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platform in an act or practice that violates 
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 of appropriate jurisdic-
tion to— 
(I) enjoin such act or practice; 
(II) enforce compliance with this 
section; 
(III) obtain damages, restitution, 
or other compensation on behalf of 
residents of the State; or 
(IV) obtain such other relief as 
the court may consider to be appro-
priate. 
(ii) NOTICE.— 
(I) IN
GENERAL.—Before filing 
an action under clause (i), the attor-
ney general of the State involved shall 
provide to the Commission— 
(aa) written notice of such 
action; and 
(bb) a copy of the complaint 
for such action. 
(II) EXEMPTION.— 
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(aa) 
IN
GENERAL.—Sub-
clause (I) shall not apply with re-
spect to the filing of an action by 
an attorney general of a State 
under this subparagraph, if the 
attorney general determines that 
it is not feasible to provide the 
notice described in such sub-
clause before the filing of such 
action. 
(bb) NOTIFICATION.—In an 
action described in item (aa), the 
attorney 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 such action. 
(B) INTERVENTION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—On receiving notice 
under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Commis-
sion shall have the right to intervene in the 
action that is the subject of such notice. 
(ii) EFFECT
OF
INTERVENTION.—If 
the Commission intervenes in an action 
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under subparagraph (A), it shall have the 
right— 
(I) to be heard with respect to 
any matter that arises in such action; 
and 
(II) to file a petition for appeal. 
(C) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 
bringing any civil action under subparagraph 
(A), nothing in this section shall be construed 
to prevent an attorney general of a State from 
exercising the powers conferred on the attorney 
general by the laws of that State to— 
(i) conduct investigations; 
(ii) administer oaths or affirmations; 
or 
(iii) compel the attendance of wit-
nesses or the production of documentary 
and other evidence. 
(3) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A parent of a 
child injured by a violation of this section by a pro-
vider of a social media platform may bring in a dis-
trict court of the United States of appropriate juris-
diction a civil action to— 
(A) enjoin the violation; 
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(B) obtain compensatory damages and pu-
nitive damages; or 
(C) obtain such other relief as the court 
may consider to be appropriate. 
(c) REVIEW AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Commission shall— 
(1) review the implementation of this section, 
including the effects of the implementation of this 
section on providers of social media platforms, the 
efforts of the Commission to ensure such providers 
comply with this section and the successfulness of 
such efforts, any violations of this section by such 
providers, and the actions taken by such providers to 
verify the age and identity of users and prospective 
users of the social media platforms of such pro-
viders; and 
(2) submit to Congress a report on the results 
of the review described in paragraph (1). 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ACCESS.—The term ‘‘access’’ means, with 
respect to a social media platform— 
(A) to establish an account on such social 
media platform; 
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(B) to create a profile on such social media 
platform; or 
(C) to create, share, or view user-generated 
content through such account or profile. 
(2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi-
vidual under the age of 16. 
(3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(4) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 1302 of the 
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 
(15 U.S.C. 6501). 
(5) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘per-
sonal information’’ means individually identifiable 
information about an individual collected online, in-
cluding— 
(A) a first and last name; 
(B) a home or other physical address, in-
cluding street name and name of a city or town; 
(C) an email address; 
(D) a telephone number; 
(E) a Social Security number; or 
(F) any other information the Commission 
determines permits the physical or online con-
tacting of a specific individual. 
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(6) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘social media 
platform’’ means a website or other internet 
medium that does the following: 
(i) Permits a person to establish an 
account or create a profile for the purpose 
of allowing users to create, share, and view 
user-generated content through such ac-
count or profile. 
(ii) Enables 1 or more users to gen-
erate content that can be viewed by other 
users of such medium. 
(iii) Primarily serves as a medium for 
users to interact with content generated by 
other users of such medium. 
(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘social media 
platform’’ 
includes 
Facebook, 
Twitter, 
Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. 
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
United States, and each federally recognized Indian 
Tribe. 
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(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 
on the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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