Sens. Schatz, Cotton, Murphy, Britt Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Help Protect Kids From Harmful Impacts Of Social Media

Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced new legislation to help protect children from the harmful impacts of social media. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media apps and would require parental consent for 13 through17 year-olds.  The bill would also prevent social media companies from feeding content using algorithms to users under the age of 18. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would:

• Require social media companies to undertake rigorous age verification measures based on the latest technology, while prohibiting companies from using age verification information for any other purpose;
• Prohibit children under the age of 13 from using social media, consistent with the current practices of major social media companies;
• Prohibit social media companies from recommending content using algorithms to users under the age of 18;
• Require a guardian’s permission for users under 18 to create an account;
• Create a pilot project for a government-provided age verification system that platforms can choose to use; and
• Provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general authority to enforce the provisions of the bill.