Social media platforms must protect kids from addictive design.

What it does

The bill requires social media platforms to add safety features. Video games and streaming services must do the same. Platforms must stop compulsive usage and protect against sexual abuse. They must block drug ads and give kids privacy controls. Parents get tools to oversee what their kids do. Platforms must do yearly audits and report their findings.

Who it affects

Parents and children gain privacy controls and see how platforms work. Social media platforms, video game companies, and streaming services must follow new rules and pay for audits.

One thing to notice

The bill requires platforms to disclose practices and offer protective controls. It does not say what happens if platforms restrict minor access.

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

Where it stands

76 cosponsors: 42 Republicans, 33 Democrats, 1 Independents.

• May 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• May 14, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.”
• Aug 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of…”

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

Money around this bill

59 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 79 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $96,320,909 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 12 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 99% of bills with any report.

Marsha Blackburn, who sponsored the bill, received $133,620 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
• Ctia-the Wireless Association — $3,640,000 in 1 report
• 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

• addictive design — Features that make apps hard to stop using.
• minors — People under 18 years old.
• audits — Official checks to see if a company follows 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.