Senators Britt, Cotton, Schatz, Murphy introduce Protecting Kids on Social Media Act

U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today introduced a bipartisan bill designed to help protect children from the harmful impacts of social media and empower families.

The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media apps and would require parental consent for 13 through 17-year-olds. The bill would also prevent social media companies from using algorithms to feed content to users under the age of 18.

“As a mom, nothing is more important to me than preserving the next generation’s opportunity to live the American Dream. Unfortunately, that Dream is turning into a nightmare for families across our country. This bill is a bold, critical step to protect our kids, secure their future, and empower parents,” said Senator Britt. “There is no doubt that our country is facing a growing mental health crisis and a deteriorating culture of violence. Children and teenagers across our nation are dying, families are being devastated, and our society is withering. The only beneficiaries of the status quo are social media companies’ bottom lines and the foreign adversaries cheering them on. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to enact the commonsense, age-appropriate solutions needed to tackle this generational challenge.”