Kids Off Social Media Act

The bill would prohibit social media platforms from knowingly allowing children under 13 to create or keep accounts, and would require platforms to terminate existing child accounts and delete the associated personal data. Users whose accounts are terminated would have 90 days to request a portable copy of their data. The bill would also prohibit platforms from using personalized recommendation systems — automated tools that suggest or rank content based on a user's personal data — for any user the platform knows is under 17. A narrow exception permits recommendations based only on device type, language, approximate location, and age.

The bill would not require platforms to implement age-verification technology or affirmatively collect age data they do not already gather; enforcement turns on whether a platform had "knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances." Schools receiving E-Rate discounted telecommunications services would be required to certify that they monitor student activity and use filtering technology to block social media on supported networks and devices. Schools that fail to make a good-faith compliance effort would have to reimburse E-Rate support received during the noncompliant period.

Social media platforms that are directed to consumers, derive revenue primarily from advertising or data sales, and function primarily as forums for user-generated content. Elementary and secondary schools that participate in the federal E-Rate program for discounted internet and telecommunications services. Children under 13 who currently hold platform accounts, and teenagers aged 13–16 who use algorithmically curated feeds. State attorneys general, the FTC, and the FCC are each assigned enforcement or administrative duties.

Platforms that knowingly allow underage accounts or serve personalized feeds to teens would face FTC enforcement and civil suits by state attorneys general, including damages and injunctive relief. Schools that do not deploy blocking technology risk losing E-Rate discounts they rely on to fund broadband access. Teens aged 13–16 would see chronological rather than algorithmically personalized feeds, directly changing how content reaches them on covered platforms.

The FTC would enforce Title I's platform requirements by treating violations as unfair or deceptive acts under the FTC Act; state attorneys general may bring parallel civil actions with prior notice to the FTC. Title I takes effect one year after enactment, giving platforms a compliance window. For schools, the FCC must amend its E-Rate rules within 120 days of enactment. Schools with filtering measures already in place must certify compliance in the first E-Rate program year after enactment; schools without such measures have until the second program year to come into full compliance, with a waiver available if state procurement rules prevent timely action. The FCC would also maintain a publicly accessible database of school internet safety policies submitted as part of E-Rate applications.