Sens Schatz, Cruz, Murphy, Britt Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Keep Kids Safe, Healthy, Off Social Media

Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Katie Britt (R-AK) introduced new legislation to keep kids off social media and help protect them from its harmful impacts. The Kids Off Social Media Act updates legislation Schatz introduced last spring and would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media companies from feeding algorithmically-targeted content to users under the age of 17. In addition to Schatz, Cruz, Murphy, and Britt, the Kids Off Social Media Act is cosponsored by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT)., Ted Budd (R-NC), John Fetterman (D-PA), Angus King (I-ME), and Mark Warner (D-VA). Specifically, the Kids Off Social Media Act would:

• Prohibit children under the age of 13 from creating or maintaining social media accounts, consistent with the current practices of major social media companies;
• Prohibit social media companies from pushing targeted content using algorithms to users under the age of 17;
• Provide the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general authority to enforce the provisions of the bill; and
• Follow existing Children's Internet Protection Act framework to require schools to block and filter social media on their federally funded networks, which many schools already do.