I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8372 
To keep children safe and protect their interests on the internet, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 
Ms. CASTOR of Florida (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, and Ms. 
WEXTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To keep children safe and protect their interests on the 
internet, 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 ‘‘Kids Internet Design 
and Safety Act’’ or the ‘‘KIDS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Children increasingly consume digital enter-
tainment on the internet and are uniquely suscep-
tible to manipulation online, given their lack of im-
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portant neurological and psychological mechanisms 
which are developed later in adulthood. 
(2) Today’s digital media environment, which is 
constantly evolving and now includes high-tech expe-
riences, such as augmented reality and virtual re-
ality, is largely designed in non-transparent ways to 
ensure children interact with content that reflect the 
interests and goals of content creators, platforms, 
and marketers. 
(3) Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 
other complex systems are used to make continuous 
decisions about how online content for children can 
be personalized to increase engagement. 
(4) Online companies gather, analyze, and use 
data for behavioral marketing directed at children. 
(5) Companies employ sophisticated strategies, 
including neuromarketing, to affect consumer behav-
ior and manipulate decision making. 
(6) Branded content in various forms of multi-
media, including native advertising and influencer 
marketing, exposes children to marketing that is in-
herently manipulative or purposely disguised as en-
tertainment or other information. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 
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(1) AUGMENTED
REALITY.—The term ‘‘aug-
mented reality’’ means an application or web-based 
experience utilizing a camera to change or enhance 
the user’s view of the real world. 
(2) BRANDED CONTENT.—The term ‘‘branded 
content’’ means commercial content created for, and 
distributed on, a platform in such a way that the 
line between entertainment and advertising becomes 
unclear in order to generate a positive view of the 
brand. 
(3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(4) COVERED USER.—The term ‘‘covered user’’ 
means an individual under the age of 16. 
(5) DIRECTED TO CHILDREN.—The term ‘‘di-
rected to children’’ means the targeting of covered 
users by a platform, as demonstrated by, with re-
spect to such platform— 
(A) its subject matter; 
(B) its visual content; 
(C) the use of animated characters or 
child-oriented activities for children and related 
incentives; 
(D) music or other audio content; 
(E) the age of models used; 
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(F) the presence of— 
(i) child celebrities; or 
(ii) celebrities who appeal to covered 
users; 
(G) the language used; 
(H) advertising content used on, or used to 
advertise, such platform; or 
(I) reliable empirical evidence relating to— 
(i) the composition of the audience of 
such platform; and 
(ii) the intended audience of such 
platform. 
(6) HOST-SELLING.—The term ‘‘host-selling’’ 
refers to commercial video content that features the 
same characters or individuals as in the adjacent 
noncommercial content. 
(7) 
INFLUENCER
MARKETING.—The 
term 
‘‘influencer marketing’’ means a tactic by which a 
brand or agency or publisher works with individuals 
who are deemed to have the potential to create en-
gagement, drive conversation, or sell products or 
services with the intended target audience, in order 
to drive brand messages. 
(8) MANIPULATION.—The term ‘‘manipulation’’ 
means design strategies, product settings, and prod-
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uct architecture targeted to cognitive vulnerabilities 
with the intention or effect of pushing the user to 
make choices to their detriment and the operator’s 
benefit. 
(9) NATIVE ADVERTISING.—The term ‘‘native 
advertising’’ means a form of paid media where the 
advertising experience follows the natural form and 
function of the user experience in which it is placed. 
(10) NEUROMARKETING.—The term ‘‘neuro-
marketing’’ means a subfield of marketing that at-
tempts to predict and potentially manipulate con-
sumer behavior and decision making based on anal-
ysis of brain patterns. 
(11) OPERATOR.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘operator’’ 
means any person who operates a platform, in-
cluding any person offering products or services 
for sale through that platform, involving com-
merce— 
(i) among the several States or with 
one or more foreign nations; 
(ii) in any territory of the United 
States or in the District of Columbia, or 
between any such territory and— 
(I) another such territory; or 
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(II) any State or foreign nation; 
or 
(iii) between the District of Columbia 
and any State, territory, or foreign nation. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘operator’’ 
does not include any nonprofit entity that would 
otherwise be exempt from coverage under sec-
tion 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act 
(15 U.S.C. 45). 
(12) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 
individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, co-
operative, association, or other entity. 
(13) PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘platform’’ means 
a website, online service, online application, or mo-
bile application which is operated for commercial 
purposes. 
(14) VIRTUAL REALITY.—The term ‘‘virtual re-
ality’’ means an application or web-based experience 
utilizing a camera to create an immersive environ-
ment that mimics the real world, usually via a head-
set. 
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SEC. 4. REGULATION OF ACTS AND PRACTICES ON CHILD- 
DIRECTED PLATFORMS. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FEATURES.—It is un-
lawful for an operator of a platform directed to children 
to incorporate any of the following features: 
(1) Any auto-play setting that, without input 
from the covered user, commences additional video 
content directly following the video content initially 
selected by the user. 
(2) Push alerts that urge a covered user to 
spend more time engaged with the platform when 
they are not actively using it. 
(3) Displaying the quantity of positive engage-
ment or feedback that a covered user has received 
from other users. 
(4) Any design feature or setting that unfairly 
encourages a covered user, due to their age or inex-
perience, to make purchases, submit content, or 
spend more time engaging with the platform. 
(5) Any feature that provides a covered user 
with badges or other visual award symbols based on 
elevated levels of engagement with the platform. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON AMPLIFICATION OF CERTAIN 
CONTENT; USER REPORTING MECHANISM.—It shall be 
unlawful for an operator of a platform directed to children, 
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or a platform for which the operator has constructive 
knowledge that covered users use its platform, to— 
(1) amplify, promote, or encourage covered 
users’ consumption of videos and other forms of con-
tent that involve— 
(A) sexual material; 
(B) physical or emotional violence, includ-
ing bullying; 
(C) adult activities, including gambling; or 
(D) other dangerous, abusive, exploitative, 
or wholly commercial content; or 
(2) fail to implement a mechanism for users to 
report suspected violations of any requirement under 
paragraph (1). 
(c) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ADVERTISING METH-
ODS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for an 
operator of a platform directed to children to— 
(A) direct content that includes host-selling 
to covered users; 
(B) expose covered users to program- 
length advertisements; 
(C) direct branded content or native adver-
tising to covered users; 
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(D) direct online advertising or material 
with considerable commercial content involving 
alcohol, nicotine, or tobacco to covered users; 
(E) expose covered users to online adver-
tising or material with considerable commercial 
content with any imbedded interactive elements 
that take advantage of covered users’ inexperi-
ence or credulity in noncommercial child-di-
rected content; or 
(F) direct content that includes product 
placement to covered users. 
(2) PROGRAM-LENGTH ADVERTISEMENT.—The 
term ‘‘program-length advertisement’’ shall be de-
fined by the Commission through regulation or other 
public guidance. 
(d) PROHIBITION ON USE OF PERSONAL INFORMA-
TION.—It shall be unlawful for an operator of a platform 
directed to children to use age verification information col-
lected from covered users for any commercial purpose. 
(e) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall promul-
gate regulations in accordance with section 553 of title 
5, United States Code, to require any operator of a plat-
form directed to children to incorporate online visual ele-
ments or other indicators that distinguish commercial con-
tent from noncommercial content. 
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SEC. 5. MARKETING AND COMMERCIALIZATION. 
(a) CONTENT LABELING SYSTEM REPORT.—Not 
later than the date that is 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress 
a report— 
(1) containing recommendations for a labeling 
system to allow parents to identify noncommercial, 
educational, and enriching content for covered users 
online; and 
(2) address considerations regarding how such 
labeling system should— 
(A) analyze content based on evidence- 
based criteria; 
(B) employ an easy-to-understand visual 
cue for parents to identify content described in 
paragraph (1); 
(C) receive regular review to determine its 
effectiveness; and 
(D) develop a mechanism for users to re-
port to the Commission complaints of mis-
labeled content and for the Commission to rem-
edy such instances of mislabeled content. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The report described in sub-
section (a) shall be developed by the Commission in con-
sultation with an advisory board, to be created and con-
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vened by the Commission, which is comprised of experts 
in child development, child health, education, and media. 
SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY AND AUDITING. 
(a) TRANSPARENCY.—The Commission shall promul-
gate regulations in accordance with section 553 of title 
5, United States Code, requiring an operator of a platform 
which is directed to children to publish and maintain a 
publicly accessible digital record of the viewable or play-
able content of each such platform. 
(b) ANNUAL PLATFORM AUDITS.—The regulations 
promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the 
establishment of an annual audit process, to be conducted 
during the 5-year period subsequent to the date of enact-
ment of this Act, for each of the 25 platforms directed 
to children with the highest total number of child users, 
to evaluate the level of compliance by each such platform 
with respect to the requirements under this Act. 
(c) REPORT.—The Commission shall issue annual re-
ports to Congress based on the audits described in sub-
section (b) that— 
(1) describe the level of compliance by the plat-
forms described in such subsection with respect to 
the requirements under this Act; and 
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(2) provide recommendations for such legisla-
tion and administrative actions as the Commission 
determines appropriate based on the audit findings. 
SEC. 7. GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 
shall provide grants to eligible persons to foster the 
creation and promotion of advertisement-free and 
educational online content for covered users, such as 
videos and applications. 
(2) ELIGIBLE PERSON.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘‘eligible person’’ means a person 
that has submitted an application, as approved by 
the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to the eligi-
bility requirements developed under subsection (b), 
for the creation and promotion of advertisement-free 
and educational online content for covered users. 
(b) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish and convene an Advisory Council on Children’s Online 
Content, which shall be— 
(1) comprised of experts in education, child de-
velopment, psychology, online media, and other re-
lated disciplines; and 
(2) tasked with developing evidence-based cri-
teria for grant eligibility and grant distribution. 
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(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated— 
(A) for fiscal year 2021, $4,000,000; 
(B) for fiscal year 2022, $8,000,000; 
(C) for fiscal year 2023, $10,000,000; and 
(D) for fiscal year 2024, $12,000,000. 
(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any amount ap-
propriated under this subsection for any fiscal year 
shall remain available for the purposes of carrying 
out any application approved during such fiscal year 
for an additional period of 1 year after the end of 
such fiscal year. 
SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall be enforced by the 
Commission under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
(b) ACTIONS BY COMMISSION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pre-
vent any person from violating this Act or any regu-
lation promulgated by the Commission under this 
Act 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 
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