en.Wedoany.com Reported - June 23, 2026, Washington — Leaders of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee have reached a bipartisan compromise on a children's online safety package. Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (Republican) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (Democrat) jointly announced an agreement on the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act). The bill, a 115-page package, incorporates elements from over 10 children's online safety bills. In a joint statement, Guthrie and Pallone said: "We have worked across party lines for months, and now we have found common ground on policies that will significantly improve the digital environment for children."
The final version of the bill is roughly twice the length of the initial version, which previously passed committee review with only Republican support. The revised bill includes data privacy protections for children and adolescents and scales back preemption provisions that had raised earlier concerns. The bill requires online platforms, gaming services, and AI chatbots to implement default child safety protections, including stricter parental controls and restrictions on algorithmic targeting and user engagement features.
Under the bill, social media platforms must enable default safety settings for minors, including restrictions on messaging and contacts, data sharing and geolocation, as well as controls over recommendation systems and features designed to reduce compulsive use. Platforms must provide parents with the ability to manage children's accounts, limit screen time and purchases, control message access (including disabling messaging for children), receive notifications of contact requests, and view usage metrics. Platforms must also offer controls or transparency regarding algorithmic recommendation systems, compulsive engagement features (such as infinite scroll, autoplay, continuous check-ins, notifications, or rewards), and personalized content targeting based on minors' data.
The bill imposes new requirements on AI chatbot providers: chatbots must clearly disclose that they are AI systems rather than human users. When users discuss self-harm or suicidal ideation, chatbots must provide crisis hotline information. After three consecutive hours of interaction, chatbots should prompt users to take a break and implement policies to prevent promoting illegal drugs, gambling, sexual exploitation, and other harmful content to minors. Online gaming platforms are also required to default restrict communications between minors and other users, limit their purchasing capabilities, ability to receive algorithmic recommendations, and control over the visibility of personal information and contacts.
The bill also establishes a federal regulatory framework for data brokers handling minors' personal data. Data brokers must register annually with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and disclose key information, including categories of personal data sold, contact information, whether they use purchaser authentication, and any known data security incidents. The FTC will maintain a publicly searchable registry of registered data brokers and charge brokers an annual registration fee of at least $22,500 (adjusted for inflation).
The FTC will serve as the primary enforcement agency, overseeing compliance of covered platforms and requiring major platforms to undergo annual independent third-party audits assessing their protections for minors, including availability and use of safety tools, effectiveness of parental controls, number of harm reports, and number of minor users and usage time. Audit results will be submitted to the FTC and partially made public. The bill also directs the FTC to conduct a series of studies and reports with other federal agencies, evaluating data collection and usage patterns, daily usage by minors, and the impact of AI chatbots on mental health.
The legislation includes a federal preemption provision, but states retain the ability to enact stronger safeguards that do not directly conflict with federal requirements. The final version omits several bills considered by the committee in March, including the Algorithmic Choice and Transparency Act by Florida Republican Kat Cammack, the App Store Accountability Act by Michigan Republican John James, and Sammy's Law by Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Georgia Republican Buddy Carter, which is being considered separately.
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