Overview

• Bill requires social media platforms to protect minors (under 17) from specific online harms through enforceable policies and safety tools.
• Covers platforms with user-generated content, searchable profiles, engagement-boosting design features, and personalized advertising.
• Status: Introduced December 5, 2025, by Rep. Bilirakis. Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee. Takes effect 18 months after enactment.

Who does this affect?

• Main groups: Teens under 17 using social media, parents of children under 13, social media companies (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.).
• Who benefits: Teens gain default privacy settings, tools to limit screen time and unwanted contact, and protections from harmful content. Parents get controls to manage kids' accounts, restrict purchases, and view usage metrics.
• Who faces restrictions: Platforms must implement costly compliance measures including annual third-party audits, harm reporting systems, and age-appropriate safety features. Platforms cannot advertise drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or gambling to minors.
• Teen impact score: 9/10 (direct impact on teen social media use and online safety)
• Teen-specific impact: Teens will experience automatic privacy protections when signing up for social media. Features like infinite scroll and appearance-altering filters must be limited by default. Teens can set their own time limits and communication restrictions.

What This Bill Does

• Platforms must establish policies addressing four specific harms to minors: threats of physical violence, sexual exploitation and abuse (including child pornography and trafficking), distribution/sale of narcotic drugs/tobacco/cannabis/gambling/alcohol, and financial harm from deceptive practices.
• Default settings for minors must provide "the most protective level of control" for privacy and safety. Design features causing compulsive usage (infinite scroll, autoplay, notifications, badges, appearance filters) must be limited by default.
• Parental tools required for all minors, enabled by default for children under 13. Parents can view/control privacy settings, restrict purchases, view total time spent, and set time limits. Platforms must notify parents and obtain verifiable parental consent for children under 13.
• Platforms must provide easy-to-use reporting mechanism for harms to minors, respond within 10 days (immediately for imminent threats). Electronic point of contact required specifically for minor safety issues.
• Annual independent third-party audits required starting 1 year after enactment. Audits must count minor users in U.S., track median/mean time spent, document safeguard usage, report harm complaints received, and describe data collection practices. Results submitted to FTC within 30 days.
• Enforcement through FTC as unfair/deceptive practices. State attorneys general can bring civil actions for damages, restitution, or injunctions. Federal preemption: states cannot pass conflicting laws on these topics.
• Secretary of Commerce establishes Kids Online Safety Council with academics, researchers, parents, teens, educators, platforms, and civil liberties experts. Council submits final report to Congress within 3 years with recommendations on emerging risks, harm mitigation methods, and audit standards.

Legislative Status

• Introduced December 5, 2025. Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce for consideration.
• If enacted, takes effect 18 months after enactment date, giving platforms time to build compliance systems.

In short

• Social media platforms must turn on strong privacy protections by default for all users under 17.
• Platforms must limit addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay for teen users.
• Parents get tools to control their kids' accounts, especially for children under 13.
• Platforms must respond to safety reports within 10 days and pass annual independent audits.
• Federal Trade Commission enforces violations as unfair business practices with potential fines.

Why should I care?

If you use social media, this bill directly changes your experience. Platforms would automatically limit features designed to keep you scrolling endlessly. You'd get tools to set your own time limits and control who can message you. For younger teens, parents gain more visibility and control over accounts. The bill aims to reduce exposure to harmful content like drug sales, sexual exploitation, and scams. Critics worry about privacy trade-offs from age verification and whether limiting features restricts free expression. The debate centers on whether government regulation or platform self-regulation better protects teens online while preserving digital rights.