Kids Off Social Media Act

Key Points

• Social media companies would be banned from letting children under 13 create or keep accounts. If a platform learns a user is under 13, it must terminate the account and delete all personal data collected from that child, though users get 90 days to download their information first.
• For teens ages 13 to 16, platforms would be banned from using personalized recommendation algorithms that suggest content based on personal data. Teens could still see posts in chronological order from accounts they follow, and they could still use search features.
• Schools receiving federal broadband subsidies (E-Rate funding) would be required to block student access to social media on school networks and devices. Schools that do not comply could lose their discount-rate internet funding.
• The bill does not require platforms to implement age verification systems like ID scanning. Instead, companies are held responsible if they know or reasonably should know a user is underage based on the information available to them.
• Both the FTC and state attorneys general can enforce the law. States can sue platforms on behalf of residents for damages, restitution, or injunctions. The main provisions take effect one year after the bill is signed into law.