Congress moves to ban social media from profiling and manipulating children

What it does

This bill prohibits social media platforms from conducting market research or product testing on children under 13, and requires parental consent before doing so on teens aged 13–16. Platforms must stop using design features (infinite scroll, notifications, reward badges, filters) that are engineered to maximize engagement time on children and teens. The FTC and state attorneys general enforce violations as unfair trade practices.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a direct prohibition on commercial research and engagement-maximizing design targeting minors, enforced by the FTC and state AGs. It is a consumer-protection measure, not a tax, subsidy, or commemorative act.

What the text implies

• The definition of 'design feature' is broad and may capture features platforms argue serve non-engagement purposes (e.g., notifications for safety alerts, badges for educational milestones). Litigation risk is high.
• The 90-day implementation window is tight for platforms to audit and redesign systems; compliance costs may be substantial and unevenly distributed across smaller vs. large platforms.
• State attorneys general gain concurrent enforcement power, creating potential for fragmented enforcement and conflicting state-level interpretations of 'market research' and 'design feature.'
• The carve-out for 'measuring or reporting advertising or content performance' may be exploited by platforms to conduct research under the guise of analytics, creating a loophole.
• Platforms may respond by age-gating or blocking minors from services entirely, reducing access rather than improving safety.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary people—especially parents and children—gain protection from predatory engagement design and commercial profiling. Platforms lose the ability to conduct behavioral research on minors without consent, reducing data harvesting and algorithmic manipulation targeting young users. The cost is borne by platforms' business models, not citizens.

Named in the bill

Federal Trade Commission (FTC), State Attorneys General, Social media platforms, Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Federal Trade Commission Act

Where it stands

• Nov 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Nov 21, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade”
• Dec 11, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

7 lobbying clients named this bill on 11 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $17,295,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 33 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the sponsor, reported $2,407,952 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Google Client Services LLC — $6,920,000 on 2 filings
• Meta Platforms, Inc. and Various Subsidiaries — $5,990,000 on 1 filing
• American Association for Justice — $3,610,000 on 2 filings
• News Media Alliance — $475,000 on 1 filing
• Technet — $160,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.