Sponsors (3)
The bill prioritizes a multi-year, evidence-gathering approach and clearer definitions to inform future protections for youth and reduce regulatory ambiguity, at the cost of delaying immediate safeguards, adding oversight exemptions that may increase data burdens, and imposing potential compliance and taxpayer costs.
Children and teens (under 17) and their families will benefit from a federal study that identifies what data platforms collect, how algorithms affect youth, and the mental-health impacts—information that can guide prevention, treatment, and safer platform design.
Policymakers will receive evidence-based recommendations within the study timeline that could enable stronger legal protections for minors (for example, limits on targeted ads to children).
Users, small creators, and smaller platforms get clearer regulatory expectations because the bill defines what counts as a 'social media platform,' reducing ambiguity about coverage.
The study’s multi-year timeline (up to three years) delays potential short-term policy actions that might immediately reduce harms to minors.
Exempting the study from the Paperwork Reduction Act bypasses OMB review and may increase data-collection burdens on platforms, respondents, or parents without the usual federal paperwork limits or oversight.
The bill’s definition of 'social media platform' could create legal uncertainty for borderline or hybrid services (e.g., messaging-heavy or niche apps) and may reclassify companies in ways that impose new compliance costs on small platforms and creators.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires the FTC, with HHS, to study social media use by under-17s and report harms, benefits, and policy recommendations to Congress within three years; defines "social media platform."
Introduced November 25, 2025 by Cliff Bentz · Last progress November 25, 2025
Requires the Federal Trade Commission, working with the HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to study how people under 17 use social media and how platforms collect and use their information. The agencies must report findings and policy recommendations to Congress within three years, and the bill also defines what counts as a "social media platform" while exempting the study from the Paperwork Reduction Act.