Sponsors (3)
Requires the FTC (with HHS) to study social media use by under-17s and report findings and recommendations to Congress within three years.
The bill prioritizes a structured, multi-year study and clearer platform definitions to better understand and potentially protect youth—trading faster regulatory fixes for delayed action and imposing research, reporting, and compliance burdens that create costs and some legal uncertainty for platforms and taxpayers.
Children and teens under 17 will be better understood because the bill funds a multi-year study of what platforms collect and how algorithms affect youth, producing evidence that can inform policy changes and mental-health prevention/treatment programs.
Users and small creators get clearer rules because the bill defines what counts as a 'social media platform,' reducing regulatory ambiguity for many services and helping small businesses and platform workers understand compliance expectations.
Common internet services are protected from unintended regulation because the bill explicitly excludes email and broadband providers from the social-media-platform definition.
The study's multi-year timeline (up to 3 years) delays policy actions that could protect minors in the short term, meaning potentially harmful practices may continue while evidence is gathered.
Services near the definition's margins (e.g., hybrid apps or messaging-heavy platforms) will face legal uncertainty about whether they're covered, and companies that are reclassified could incur new compliance costs.
Exempting the study from the Paperwork Reduction Act bypasses OMB review and may increase data-collection or reporting burdens on platforms and respondents without standard federal paperwork limits.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To require the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study regarding social media use by teenagers.
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 social media platforms are used by people under age 17. The study must examine data collection, algorithmic targeting, advertising, daily use patterns, age differences, and mental-health harms and benefits, and deliver a report with findings and policy recommendations to Congress within three years. The bill also defines what counts as a “social media platform” and exempts the study from the Paperwork Reduction Act.