All Roll Calls
Yes: 267 • No: 117
119-hr-7757119th CongressWALLET
KIDS Act
Sponsored By: Representative Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2]
Passed House
Summary
This bill would create a federal framework to _protect minors online_ by requiring age checks for obscene sexual material and strengthening privacy, parental controls, platform audits, and research on youth harms.
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- Families: Parents get default, easy tools to view and manage a child’s account, limit messaging and purchases, set time limits, and receive notices about messaging requests.
- Minors and teens: COPPA 2.0 narrows definitions to children under 14 and teens 14–17, bars individualized ads to minors, and gives teens rights to access, correct, and delete their personal data.
- Platforms and data brokers: Covered platforms must deploy age verification for sexual content within 1 year, submit to independent audits starting 18 months after enactment, and follow stricter safeguards. Covered data brokers must register annually and pay a minimum fee of $22,500.
The bill also creates cross‑agency studies, a Kids Internet Safety Partnership, and new chatbot and gaming safeguards to guide rulemaking and education.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
9 provisions identified: 7 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Parental controls and safer app design
If enacted, covered platforms would warn parents before a known minor registers or buys and offer easy parental tools. Parents would be able to limit purchases and time, manage messaging, hide online status, and opt out of personalized recommendations. Online game accounts for minors would use the most protective defaults unless a parent changes them. Platforms would provide an easy harm‑reporting tool and respond within 10 days. Independent audits would start within 18 months and then yearly. For most parts, a “minor” would mean under age 17 starting 1 year after enactment. Guardrails would protect privacy and security: the bill would not require age‑gating, breaking encryption, sharing browsing history or messages, or collecting extra age data beyond normal business.
Stronger privacy rules for kids and teens
If enacted, online services would face tougher privacy rules for minors. Children under 14 and teens ages 14–17 would get clearer notices, stronger consent rules, and better security. Teens would gain rights to see, delete, and fix their data after identifying themselves. Services would be barred from using kids’ or teens’ data for individualized ads. The FTC would study a common consent tool within 1 year. Most changes would start 1 year after enactment.
FTC and states step up enforcement
If enacted, violations of this bill would count as unfair or deceptive acts under the FTC Act, giving the FTC full enforcement tools and penalties. State attorneys general would be able to sue after notifying the FTC, but not while an FTC or U.S. Attorney General case on the same violations is pending. The FTC would publish an enforcement report within 1 year and then each year, and an oversight report within 3 years.
National guidance and education on kids’ safety
If enacted, the Commerce Secretary would set up the Kids Internet Safety Partnership within 1 year. It would issue a first report within 1 year of its start, publish a provider playbook within 2 years, and sunset after 5 years. The FTC would launch a nationwide online‑safety education program within 180 days and report yearly for 10 years. The FTC would also review industry safety tools, consult parents and experts, and report findings within 3 years.
Data brokers selling minors’ data register
If enacted, data brokers that sell or license minors’ personal data would have to register with the FTC within 12 months and then yearly. The FTC would post a public, searchable registry within 18 months. Brokers would pay at least a $22,500 annual fee, adjusted each January 1 by inflation, and disclose data types sold and security incidents. Federal registration would not replace any state registration a broker owes.
Age checks on porn-heavy sites
If enacted, starting 1 year after enactment, sites where over one‑third of content is sexual material harmful to minors would need age‑verification tech. A user’s self‑attestation would not be enough. Platforms would give clear notices, try to stop circumvention, secure verification data, and limit what they collect, keep, and share. The bill would not require users to submit a government ID. Title I would use the federal definition of “minor” in 18 U.S.C. §2256. The FTC would consult technical, child‑safety, privacy, and security experts, and the GAO would report on effectiveness within 3 years.
AI chatbots must disclose to kids
If enacted, chatbots would clearly tell minors they are AI at the first interaction and whenever asked. If a user raises suicide concerns, the chatbot would share crisis resources. Providers would advise a break after 3 straight hours and have policies against sexual exploitation and promoting gambling or restricted substances to minors. Chatbots could not claim to be licensed professionals unless that is true. Disclosures would be in plain, age‑appropriate language.
New studies on teen online risks
If enacted, the FTC and Health and Human Services would report within 1 year on minors’ access to fentanyl via social media, including prevalence, harms, platform design, and fixes. The GAO would study teen use of financial apps, the privacy and mental‑health risks, and whether current laws cover them, and report within 1 year.
State protections kept; D.C. court venue
If enacted, state laws would only be preempted where they conflict, and states could pass stronger protections for minors. Contract, tort, and product‑liability laws would not be preempted. Only the U.S. District Court for D.C. would hear constitutional challenges, starting 1 year after enactment. If any part is struck down, the rest would stay in place.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2]
KY • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Pallone, Frank [D-NJ-6]
NJ • D
Sponsored 6/23/2026
Roll Call Votes
house vote • 6/29/2026
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended
Yes: 267 • No: 117