The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced an agreement Monday on the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, a package that would establish new federal rules governing how social media platforms interact with children and teenagers.
The announcement came from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie and ranking member Frank Pallone, who said in a joint statement that months of cross-aisle negotiations had produced agreement on the new framework. "The KIDS Act delivers the 21st century protections parents have demanded and our kids deserve," they said in a statement.
The legislation draws from more than a dozen existing bills, including the Kids Online Safety Act, the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, the Safe Messaging for Kids Act, and the No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, among others. According to the committee, the legislation is built around five goals: giving parents greater control, setting safety as a platform default, protecting the privacy of younger users, shining more light on data broker practices, and creating accountability mechanisms for large tech companies.
An earlier iteration of the legislation cleared the committee in March, with members voting 28 to 24 in favor. The new deal was first reported Monday by Punchbowl News, according to The Hill.
The agreement faces additional hurdles before it could become law. Senate passage and a presidential signature would both be required before the measure could take effect. Reuters reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated his backing for the package.
The deal arrives as technology companies face mounting legal exposure over the effects of their platforms on young users. Litigation involving Meta $META, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap $SNAP has grown into the thousands of cases, with plaintiffs contending that each company built its platform in ways that put young users at risk. The first of those cases to reach a California jury ended in a defeat for both companies, with a combined damages award of $6 million assessed against Meta and Google $GOOGL's YouTube.
Meta has separately extended teen account content restrictions to Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger across more markets, part of a broader set of platform changes the company has made amid legal and regulatory pressure. The outlet previously reported that Meta lobbied Congress for legal immunity from child-harm claims tied to its social media products.
The absence of a federal standard has pushed action to the state level; at least 20 states passed legislation in the past year alone targeting how children engage with social media platforms.