This legislation (H.R. 7891) from Representatives Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) would require online platforms to prioritize the wellbeing and best interests of children while designing their products. 

The bill would:

– Establish a “duty of care” for online providers, requiring them to eliminate or mitigate the impact of harmful content on their platforms;

– Require platforms to have the strongest, most protective settings on by default for minors;

– Give parents more tools to protect their children’s privacy, restrict purchases and track their time on a platform;

– Require social media platforms to perform an annual independent audit that assesses risks and whether the platform is taking meaningful steps to prevent harms to minors;

– Expand enforcement tools for FTC and state attorneys general;

– Provide researchers and nonprofit organizations access to “black box” algorithms to assist in research on algorithmic harms to children and teens.

This bipartisan legislation (H.R.7890) from Representatives Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Tim Walberg (MI-5) would:

– Expand privacy protections to teens for the first time, establishing a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” that limits the collection of personal information;

– Expand protections for children under 13, including banning surveillance advertising and placing a greater responsibility on companies to get parental consent before collecting any data from a child;

– Create an “eraser button” to make it easier for parents and teens to delete a minor’s information from a website or app; 

– Establish a Youth Marketing and Privacy division at the FTC.