To protect the safety of children on the internet.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill defines key terms for the Kids Online Safety Act including child (under 13), minor (under 17), covered platform (social media, gaming, streaming services used by minors), and compulsive usage patterns, establishes duty of care requiring covered platforms to act in best interests of minors by preventing mental health disorders, addiction-like behaviors, bullying, sexual exploitation, and predatory marketing, and requires platforms to provide minors with safeguards including privacy controls, limits on addictive features like autoplay and notifications, ability to opt out of recommendation algorithms, and geolocation controls. It relies on compliance mandates, product standards, reporting requirements, and definition changes. The main policy areas are Technology, Finance, Housing, and Environment.
Who Benefits and How
Public beneficiaries or protected communities affected by the clause could face reduced risk, Homeowners, tenants, or housing market participants affected by the bill could face lower compliance burdens, and Minors using online platforms could face reduced risk.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause would take on compliance duties, Homeowners, tenants, or housing market participants affected by the bill would take on compliance duties, and Telecommunications providers and users affected by the bill would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Defines key terms for the Kids Online Safety Act including child (under 13), minor (under 17), covered platform (social media, gaming, streaming services used by minors), and compulsive usage patterns.
- Establishes duty of care requiring covered platforms to act in best interests of minors by preventing mental health disorders, addiction-like behaviors, bullying, sexual exploitation, and predatory marketing.
- Requires platforms to provide minors with safeguards including privacy controls, limits on addictive features like autoplay and notifications, ability to opt out of recommendation algorithms, and geolocation controls...
- Requires platforms to disclose privacy policies, safeguard information, and heightened risks to minors before registration. For children under 13, must provide information to parents and obtain parental acknowledgment.
- Requires platforms with 10M+ monthly US users to publish annual reports on risks to minors based on independent third-party audits, including usage statistics disaggregated by age range.
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 defines key terms for the Kids Online Safety Act including child (under 13), minor (under 17), covered platform (social media, gaming, streaming services used by minors), and compulsive usage patterns, establishes duty of care requiring covered platforms to act in best interests of minors by preventing mental health disorders, addiction-like behaviors, bullying, sexual exploitation, and predatory marketing, and requires platforms to provide minors with safeguards including privacy controls, limits on addictive features like autoplay and notifications, ability to opt out of recommendation algorithms, and geolocation controls.
Key Policy Areas
Technology, Finance, Housing, Environment
Primary Purpose
The bill defines key terms for the Kids Online Safety Act including child (under 13), minor (under 17), covered platform (social media, gaming, streaming services used by minors), and compulsive usage patterns, establishes duty of care requiring covered platforms to act in best interests of minors by preventing mental health disorders, addiction-like behaviors, bullying, sexual exploitation, and predatory marketing, and requires platforms to provide minors with safeguards including privacy controls, limits on addictive features like autoplay and notifications, ability to opt out of recommendation algorithms, and geolocation controls.
Policy Domains
Whole bill
Identified Gains
- Public beneficiaries or protected communities affected by the clause
- Homeowners, tenants, or housing market participants affected by the bill
- Minors using online platforms
- Parents of minor users
- Financial services firms and customers affected by the bill
Identified Costs
- Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause
- Homeowners, tenants, or housing market participants affected by the bill
- Telecommunications providers and users affected by the bill
- Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill
- Environmental and public health interests affected by the bill
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Luján, Mrs. Capito, …
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Luján, Mrs. Capito, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Covered online platforms, Large social media platforms (10M+ users), Non-compliant online platforms
Covered online platforms faces effects in multiple directions
Minors using online platforms, Parents of minor users
Department of Commerce, Federal Trade Commission, National Institute of Standards and Technology
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