Kids Online Safety Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes key definitions for the Kids Online Safety Act including 'covered platform' (social media platforms with user-generated content, engagement features, and personalized advertising), 'minor' (under 17), requires covered platforms to establish and enforce reasonable policies addressing harms to minors including physical violence threats, sexual exploitation, drug/alcohol/tobacco/gambling content distribution, and mandates that covered platforms provide minors with safeguards including communication limits, compulsive usage controls, time limits, and default privacy-protective settings. It relies on compliance mandates, reporting requirements, product standards, and definition changes. The main policy areas are Technology, Trade, Finance, and Education.
Who Benefits and How
Independent third-party auditing firms could gain revenue opportunities, Technology audit and compliance consultants could gain revenue opportunities, and Social media platforms could face lower compliance burdens.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Social media platforms would take on compliance duties, Social media platforms with minor users would take on compliance duties, and Social media platforms violating the Act could face increased risk.
Key Provisions
- Establishes key definitions for the Kids Online Safety Act including 'covered platform' (social media platforms with user-generated content, engagement features, and personalized advertising), 'minor' (under 17)...
- Requires covered platforms to establish and enforce reasonable policies addressing harms to minors including physical violence threats, sexual exploitation, drug/alcohol/tobacco/gambling content distribution...
- Mandates that covered platforms provide minors with safeguards including communication limits, compulsive usage controls, time limits, and default privacy-protective settings.
- Requires covered platforms to provide clear disclosure of safeguard policies before minors register or make purchases.
- Mandates annual independent third-party audits of covered platforms.
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
The bill establishes key definitions for the Kids Online Safety Act including 'covered platform' (social media platforms with user-generated content, engagement features, and personalized advertising), 'minor' (under 17), requires covered platforms to establish and enforce reasonable policies addressing harms to minors including physical violence threats, sexual exploitation, drug/alcohol/tobacco/gambling content distribution, and mandates that covered platforms provide minors with safeguards including communication limits, compulsive usage controls, time limits, and default privacy-protective settings.
Key Policy Areas
Technology, Trade, Finance, Education
Primary Purpose
The bill establishes key definitions for the Kids Online Safety Act including 'covered platform' (social media platforms with user-generated content, engagement features, and personalized advertising), 'minor' (under 17), requires covered platforms to establish and enforce reasonable policies addressing harms to minors including physical violence threats, sexual exploitation, drug/alcohol/tobacco/gambling content distribution, and mandates that covered platforms provide minors with safeguards including communication limits, compulsive usage controls, time limits, and default privacy-protective settings.
Policy Domains
Section 2 - Definitions
Identified Gains
- Independent third-party auditing firms
- Technology audit and compliance consultants
- Social media platforms
- Parents of minors on social media
- Parents of children under 13
Identified Costs
- Social media platforms
- Social media platforms with minor users
- Social media platforms violating the Act
- Social media platforms (Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube, etc.)
- Social media platforms (Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube)
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee in the Nature of …
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Mr. Bilirakis introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
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.
Age verification service providers, Content moderation service providers, Mobile app developers with social features
Social media platforms faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: Age verification service providers, Content moderation service providers, Parental control software providers
Negative-direction: Mobile app developers with social features, Platform trust and safety teams, Social media platforms (Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube), Social media platforms (Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube, etc.), Social media platforms violating the Act, Social media platforms with minor users
Department of Commerce, Federal Trade Commission
Alcohol and gambling advertisers, Alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis advertisers, Digital advertising platforms targeting youth
State Attorneys General (regulatory authority), State Attorneys General offices, State legislatures and regulators
Independent third-party auditing firms, Legal services firms specializing in tech regulation, Technology audit and compliance consultants
Children and teenagers (minors), Parents of children under 13, Parents of minors on social media
Child safety advocacy organizations, Child safety and mental health nonprofits
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_commission"
- → Federal Trade Commission
- "covered_platform"
- → Social media platforms meeting the definition criteria
- "covered_platform"
- → Social media platforms meeting the definition criteria
- "covered_platform"
- → Social media platforms meeting the definition criteria
- "auditor"
- → Independent third-party auditor
- "the_commission"
- → Federal Trade Commission
- "covered_platform"
- → Social media platforms meeting the definition criteria
- "the_commission"
- → Federal Trade Commission
- "state_attorneys_general"
- → State Attorneys General
- "the_council"
- → Kids Online Safety Council
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Commerce
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An individual who is under the age of 13
An individual who is under the age of 17
The Federal Trade Commission
Any feature or component that encourages or increases frequency, time spent, or activity on the platform, including: infinite scrolling/auto play, rewards/incentives based on usage, notifications and push alerts, badges or visual award symbols, appearance altering filters
Persistent and repetitive use of a covered platform that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual
A website, software, application, or electronic service connected to the internet that: (1) is publicly available; (2) enables creation of searchable/followable usernames; (3) as predominant purpose facilitates sharing user-generated content; (4) uses design features to promote user engagement; and (5) uses personal information for advertising, marketing, or content recommendations
Includes coercion/enticement (18 USC 2422), child pornography (18 USC 2256), trafficking for image production (18 USC 2251), and sex trafficking (18 USC 1591)
Has the meaning given in section 1302 of COPPA (15 U.S.C. 6501)
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