SMK Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The SMK Act applies to social media platforms that know or willfully disregard that a user is under 17. Platforms offering direct messaging to covered users must provide easily accessible parental direct messaging controls that parents can activate and manage with verifiable parental consent. Default controls must let parents receive and approve or deny requests from unapproved contacts, view and manage approved-contact lists, learn if a covered user changes an age field affecting controls, and disable direct messaging. Direct messaging for covered users under age 13 must be disabled by default unless a parent consents. App stores must provide clear warnings to parents when a covered user tries to download or buy a social media app with direct messaging if the parent has required consent. Violations are enforced by the FTC as unfair or deceptive acts or practices, State attorneys general can sue with FTC notice and intervention rights, encryption is protected from decryption or weakening mandates, State laws relating to the Act are preempted, and compliance dates are 180 days generally, one year for platform controls, and 18 months for app-store warnings.
Who Benefits and How
Parents benefit from enforceable tools to approve minor direct-message contacts, disable messaging, and receive app-store warnings before downloads. Covered minors benefit from default under-13 direct-message disabling and guardrails against unapproved contacts. FTC and State attorneys general receive enforcement authority to police noncompliant platforms.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Social media platforms must build parental portals or settings, verifiable-consent flows, default restrictions, age-change alerts, anti-circumvention measures, and compliance systems. App stores must add parental warning functionality for covered downloads or purchases. The FTC and State enforcement offices must investigate and litigate violations while respecting encryption protections and Federal preemption.
Key Provisions
- Defines covered users, social media platforms, direct messaging, ephemeral messaging, parental controls, and verifiable parental consent.
- Requires social media platforms to provide usable parental direct messaging controls for covered minors.
- Requires default tools for parent approval of unapproved contacts, approved-contact management, age-change notices, and disabling direct messaging.
- Requires direct messaging to be disabled by default for covered users under age 13 unless a parent consents.
- Requires app stores to warn parents before covered users download or purchase social media apps with direct messaging when consent settings are active.
- Authorizes FTC and State attorney general enforcement while preserving encryption and preempting related State laws.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires social media platforms to give parents controls over minors’ direct messaging, disables direct messaging by default for users under 13, adds app-store warnings, and creates FTC and State enforcement.
Key Policy Areas
Technology, Children, Consumer Protection
Primary Purpose
Requires social media platforms to give parents controls over minors’ direct messaging, disables direct messaging by default for users under 13, adds app-store warnings, and creates FTC and State enforcement.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Parents of covered minors
- Covered social media users under age 17
- Covered users under age 13
- Federal Trade Commission
- State attorneys general
Identified Costs
- Social media platforms
- App store providers
- Platform trust and safety teams
- State consumer protection offices
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Mr. Dunn of Florida introduced the following bill; which was …
Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
App store providers, Platform trust and safety teams, Social media platforms
Social media platforms faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: Social media platforms using encryption
Negative-direction: App store providers, Platform trust and safety teams
Covered social media users under age 17, Covered users under age 13, Covered users under age 17
State attorneys general, State legislatures
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology