S278-119

What This Bill Does

The bill creates federal social-media protections for children and teens. It defines covered social media platforms, children under 13, teens, personal data, and personalized recommendation systems. Platforms that know a user is a child must terminate the account and delete personal data while allowing a 90-day export window. Platforms may not use a child's or teen's personal data for personalized recommendations except for limited attributes such as device, language, location, and age. Enforcement relies on FTC unfair-or-deceptive-practice authority and state attorneys general. The bill avoids mandating age gates or new age-data collection, limits use and retention of voluntarily collected age data, preserves stronger state laws, and updates CIPA so schools' internet safety policies address social media platforms and are submitted to a public FCC database.

Who Benefits and How

Children under 13 benefit because platforms that know they are children must terminate their accounts and delete personal data. Teen users benefit from limits on personalized recommendation systems that use their personal data to display content. Parents benefit from stronger federal and state enforcement tools aimed at reducing children's exposure to social-media accounts and algorithmic feeds. State attorneys general benefit from parens patriae authority to sue platforms on behalf of residents. Schools receiving E-rate support benefit from clearer internet safety policy submission rules addressing social media platforms. The Federal Communications Commission benefits from authority to maintain a public database of school internet safety policies.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Social media platform operators must terminate known child accounts, delete personal data, limit recommendation systems for children and teens, and manage compliance records. The Federal Trade Commission must enforce violations as unfair or deceptive acts or practices. State attorneys general must notify FTC before bringing civil actions unless advance notice is infeasible. Schools must submit copies of internet safety policies for FCC database publication under the amended CIPA process. Libraries must make internet safety policies available to the FCC on request for review.

Key Provisions

• Defines social media platform, child, teen, personal data, personalized recommendation system, knowledge, and covered exclusions.
• Prohibits platforms from creating or maintaining accounts for users they know are children under 13 and requires deletion of child account personal data.
• Restricts personalized recommendation systems for known children and teens while preserving search, security, spam, unlawful-material, and chronological-follow exceptions.
• Provides FTC enforcement and state attorney general civil actions with notice and intervention rights.
• Preempts only conflicting state laws while allowing stronger child and teen protections.
• Updates CIPA to require school internet safety policy copies and an FCC public database while preserving library review rules.