Social media companies must protect kids or face fines.

What it does

The bill requires social media platforms to set up safety rules. Platforms must protect minors from violence, sexual abuse, drug ads, and scams. Platforms must give minors privacy controls and time-limit tools. Safe settings turn on by default. Parents get tools to manage their kids' accounts. Platforms must answer harm reports within ten days. Platforms must hire outside auditors to check their safety work yearly. The FTC can fine companies that break these rules. States can sue on behalf of their residents.

Who it affects

Minors and parents gain new protections. These include privacy settings, time limits, parental controls, and a way to report harm. Social media platforms must build these protections into their services.

One thing to notice

Platforms must respond to harm reports within ten days. They are not required to remove content or take action.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

• Dec 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 5, 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

27 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 38 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $83,425,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 24 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 97% of bills with any report.

Gus Bilirakis, who sponsored the bill, received $855,750 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• Google Client Services LLC — $6,920,000 in 2 reports
• Meta Platforms, Inc. and Various Subsidiaries — $5,990,000 in 1 report
• National Retail Federation — $3,881,000 in 2 reports
• American Association for Justice — $3,610,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• minors — People under eighteen years old.
• FTC — The Federal Trade Commission, a government agency that stops unfair business practices.
• audits — Official checks by outside experts to see if a company follows the rules.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.