Sponsors
This is not an official government website.
Copyright © 2026 PLEJ LC. All rights reserved.
Requires online platforms, video game companies, and chatbot providers to adopt age‑verification and default protective settings, limit certain interactions between minors and adults, restrict targeted profiling of minors, and disclose AI chatbot interactions with youth. It also directs federal studies, public education, a short-term industry partnership to publish safety practices, and gives the Federal Trade Commission enforcement authority with state attorney general enforcement allowed. The law sets technical and privacy limits on age checks, requires parental controls to be default‑on and easy to use, mandates safeguards for minors in games and chatbots (including crisis resources and limits on prolonged interactions), creates auditing and reporting duties, preempts conflicting state rules on provider safeguards, and takes effect one year after enactment unless otherwise specified.
The bill strengthens nationwide protections for minors online—adding default safety settings, parental tools, age verification, chatbot safety rules, federal research, and enforceable remedies—while imposing significant compliance costs, privacy tradeoffs around verification, federal preemption of (
Minors (children and teens) will have stronger default safety and privacy protections on covered platforms: accounts known or presumed to be minors are set to the most protective settings, features that encourage compulsive use are limited, targeted ads for substances are blocked, and higher-risk messaging features are restricted.
Parents get consolidated, easy-to-use controls to view and manage children’s accounts (settings, contacts, purchases, screen time) and to block or limit who minors can contact in games and apps.
Minors will face reduced exposure to sexual content and marketing for restricted products because large platforms must implement age verification and limit how age-verification data is shared and retained.
Platforms, developers, and businesses will face substantial new compliance, auditing, and enforcement costs that are likely to be passed on to consumers or borne by taxpayers (higher prices, reduced free features, or increased public spending).
Age‑verification systems and reliance on third‑party vendors can create significant privacy and surveillance risks: sensitive identity data may be collected, concentrated with a few vendors, and exposed if security fails.
Federal preemption blocks states from enacting their own age‑verification or related laws, potentially eliminating stricter or more tailored state protections and reducing regulatory experimentation.
Introduced March 3, 2026 by Brett Guthrie · Last progress March 3, 2026