Websites where more than one-third of the content is harmful sexual material for minors would have to introduce age verification measures to block underage users, while social media platforms, AI chatbot providers, and online gaming services would face a separate set of child safety obligations under the broader Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, which the US House of Representatives passed on Monday.
Rather than creating a single new regulatory framework, the legislation combines several standalone proposals covering children’s online safety, messaging, AI chatbots, online gaming, age verification, and youth profiling. However, for these platforms, age verification has not been mandated, but they are expected to apply the provisions to users they know to be minors.
Online safety requirements: Platforms whose primary purpose is to host user-generated content, use engagement-driven design features, and rely on users’ personal information for advertising or recommendations would have to establish policies and procedures to address harms including:
- Threats of serious physical violence.
- Sexual exploitation and abuse.
- Distribution, sale, or use of narcotics, tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, and gambling.
- Financial harm caused by deceptive practices.
The legislation would also require platforms that know a user is a minor to provide safeguards enabling them to:
- Limit who can contact them.
- Prevent their profile or personal information from being recommended to adults.
- Reduce design features that encourage compulsive use, like infinite scrolling.
- Restrict sharing of precise geolocation information.
- Opt out of personalised recommendation systems or limit recommendation categories.
These protections would have to be enabled at the most protective setting by default for minors. Additionally, parents would receive tools allowing them to:
- View and modify a child’s privacy and account settings.
- Restrict purchases and financial transactions.
- View and limit time spent on the platform.
Platforms would also have to notify minors whenever parental controls are active. Beyond user controls, providers would need to establish reporting mechanisms for harms involving minors; respond to reports within 10 days, prohibit advertising of gambling, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and narcotics to minors, undergo annual independent audits, and publish public audit reports summarising their child safety measures. However, the bill clarifies that these provisions do not require platforms to implement age-gating or age verification for this subtitle.
Prohibition on ephemeral messaging: Platforms would be prohibited from offering ephemeral messaging features, i.e., messages that automatically disappear after being viewed or after a predetermined period, to users they know are minors. Manual deletion by users would remain permitted because it is not treated as ephemeral messaging under the bill.
Second, platforms could not offer direct messaging to children under 13. For teenagers aged 13-16, platforms offering direct messaging would have to provide parental controls that are easily accessible and enabled through verifiable parental consent. By default, parents would be able to:
- Receive notifications when unknown users request to message their child.
- Approve or reject those requests before conversations begin.
- Manage approved contact lists.
- Receive notifications if a teenager changes the age listed on their profile.
- Disable direct messaging entirely.
- Block individual users or categories of users from initiating conversations.
Restrictions on profiling minors: Platforms are prohibited from conducting market or product-focused research on users or visitors they know are minors unless the research is
- Solely intended to improve privacy, security, transparency or safety; or
- Necessary to comply with federal or state law.
The subtitle is scheduled to take effect 90 days after enactment.
Framework for AI chatbot providers: The bill would prohibit chatbot providers from falsely telling minors that a chatbot is a licensed professional. It would also require chatbot providers to disclose:
- That the user is interacting with an AI system at the beginning of the first interaction and whenever the user asks whether the chatbot is AI.
- Suicide and crisis intervention resources whenever a user prompts the chatbot about suicide or suicidal ideation.
All disclosures would have to use plain, age-appropriate language. Additionally, chatbot providers would have to establish policies requiring chatbots to:
- Advise minors to take a break after three hours of uninterrupted interaction.
- Address minors’ exposure to sexual material.
- Address the promotion of gambling, narcotics, tobacco, and alcohol where those products are restricted for minors.
The bill also clarifies that chatbot providers would not be required to block access to information intended to prevent or mitigate these harms.
Provisions for online gaming: Providers of interactive online games that allow players to communicate with one another would have to offer parental safeguards that
- Limit communication between minors and other players.
- Are enabled by default.
- Use the most protective settings by default.
They would also need to provide controls allowing parents and minors to:
- Prevent a child’s profile or personal information from being recommended to adults.
- Restrict purchases and financial transactions.
- Limit time spent playing.
- Manage these controls through a single parental interface where available.
Finally, providers would have to notify minors whenever these safeguards are active and explain which settings have been applied.
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