HR7433-119

What This Bill Does

Title I defines covered social media platforms as public-facing consumer services that collect personal data, primarily monetize through advertising or data sales, and primarily provide user-generated community forums, while excluding email, direct messaging, video conferencing, cloud/file tools, business-to-business tools, educational systems, games, news or entertainment content, and broadband or VPN services. Platforms may not permit known children under 13 to create or maintain accounts; must terminate known child accounts; must delete collected or submitted personal data while allowing a 90-day export window; and may retain only minimum compliance records. Platforms may not use personal data in personalized recommendation systems for known children or teens, except limited device, language, city, age, or child/teen status data, and may still provide deliberate search results, safety filtering, security measures, anti-crime measures, and chronological feeds for followed or subscribed content. Knowledge is based on competent and reliable evidence and total circumstances, but platforms are not required to add age gates or collect new age data; any age data voluntarily collected for compliance is use-limited and retention-limited. FTC enforces as an unfair-or-deceptive-practice rule, state attorneys general can sue for injunctions, compliance, damages, restitution, compensation, or other relief, and conflicting state laws are preempted only to the extent of conflict. Title II updates CIPA and E-rate: schools receiving section 254(h) discounted services must certify policies that monitor supported services, devices, and networks and operate technology protection measures blocking student access to social media platforms, with implementation timing, waivers for procurement delays, funding ineligibility or reimbursement for noncompliance, FCC enforcement and good-faith limits, a non-school-library exemption, and FCC internet safety policy database requirements.

Who Benefits and How

Children under 13 benefit from account removal and data deletion when platforms know they are children. Teen users benefit from limits on personalized recommendation systems that rely on their personal data. Parents, schools, and local educational agencies benefit from school-network blocking requirements tied to E-rate support. FTC, state attorneys general, and FCC gain defined enforcement, certification, and database roles.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Social media platforms must identify known child accounts, terminate those accounts, delete or export personal data, limit recommendation systems for known children and teens, restrict compliance-related age data use and retention, and face FTC or state attorney general enforcement. Schools, school boards, and local educational agencies must certify and operate social-media blocking technology on supported services, devices, and networks or risk losing E-rate discounts or reimbursing funds. FCC must amend rules within 120 days, enforce the new E-rate condition, and maintain a public database of internet safety policies.

Key Provisions

• Prohibits social media platforms from allowing known children under 13 to create or maintain accounts and requires termination, data deletion, and a 90-day data export window.
• Bars personalized recommendation systems for known children or teens when based on personal data, while preserving deliberate search, safety filtering, security, anti-crime measures, and chronological followed-content feeds.
• Uses an objective-circumstances knowledge standard but says platforms need not add age gates, age verification, or new age-data collection.
• Authorizes FTC enforcement and state attorney general suits for injunctions, compliance, damages, restitution, compensation, or other relief.
• Conditions school E-rate support on certifications that student use of supported services, devices, and networks is monitored and blocked from social media platforms through technology protection measures.
• Requires FCC rulemaking within 120 days, good-faith limits on fund recovery, school compliance remedies, a non-school-library exemption, and a public database of school internet safety policies.