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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10337 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10337
To prohibit certain platforms from allowing covered users to create or
maintain an account or profile on such platforms, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2026
Mrs. Houchin (for herself and Mr. Auchincloss) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit certain platforms from allowing covered users to create or
maintain an account or profile on such platforms, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``16 & Up Social Media Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ACCOUNTS AND PROFILES FOR COVERED USERS.
(a) Prohibition.--
(1) In general.--A covered platform may not allow an
individual to create or maintain an account or profile on the
covered platform if the covered platform knows that the
individual is a covered user.
(2) Termination of existing accounts.--A covered platform
shall--
(A) not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, identify any account or
profile of a user on the covered platform that the
covered platform knows is a covered user;
(B) not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, notify any user of an
account or profile identified under subparagraph (A)
that the covered platform will terminate the account or
profile of the user; and
(C) not later than 30 days after the date on which
a user is notified pursuant to subparagraph (B),
terminate the account or profile of the user.
(3) Deletion of the personal data of a covered user.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), upon
termination of an existing account or profile of a user
pursuant to paragraph (2), a covered platform shall
immediately delete all personal data collected from the
user or submitted by the user to the covered platform.
(B) Access to personal data by a covered user.--To
the extent technically feasible and not in violation of
any licensing agreement, a covered platform shall allow
the user of an existing account or profile that the
covered platform has terminated pursuant to paragraph
(2), from the date such termination occurs to the date
that is 90 days after such date, to request, and shall
provide to such user upon such request, a copy of the
personal data collected from the user or submitted by
the user to the covered platform both--
(i) in a manner that is readable and which
a reasonable person can understand; and
(ii) in a portable, structured, and
machine-readable format.
(C) Compliance.--A covered platform shall fulfill a
request under subparagraph (B) not later than 45 days
after the date on which such request is made to the
covered platform.
(4) Ability to remedy.--Not later than 60 days after the
date of the enactment of this section, and prior to
implementation of paragraph (2), a covered platform shall
implement a review process to allow a user to appeal the
determination of the covered platform that the user is a
covered user. In carrying out such review process, a covered
platform shall--
(A) ensure that the review process is clear and
accessible;
(B) review any evidence submitted by the user and
make a determination regarding the appeal not later
than 5 days after the date on which the appeal is
submitted;
(C) limit the personal data or evidence required of
the user to what is strictly necessary to verify the
age of the user; and
(D) not use any personal data or evidence submitted
during the review process for any purpose other than
evaluating the legitimacy of the appeal and determining
whether the user is a covered user, and not retain,
sell, transfer, or otherwise use any personal data
collected as part of such process.
(b) Enforcement by the Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(2) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall enforce
this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with
the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission
Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a
part of this Act. Any person who violates this section shall be
subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and
immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act.
(c) Actions by States.--
(1) In general.--In any case in which the attorney general
of a State, or an official or agency of a State, has reason to
believe that an interest of the residents of such State has
been or is threatened or adversely affected by an act or
practice in violation of this section, the State, as parens
patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of
the State in an appropriate State court or an appropriate
district court of the United States to--
(A) enjoin such act or practice;
(B) enforce compliance with this section;
(C) obtain damages, restitution, or other
compensation on behalf of residents of the State; or
(D) obtain such other legal and equitable relief as
the court may consider to be appropriate.
(2) Notice.--Before filing an action under this subsection,
the attorney general, official, or agency of the State involved
shall provide to the Commission a written notice of such action
and a copy of the complaint for such action. If the attorney
general, official, or agency determines that it is not feasible
to provide the notice described in this paragraph before the
filing of the action, the attorney general, official, or agency
shall provide written notice of the action and a copy of the
complaint to the Commission immediately upon the filing of the
action.
(3) Authority of commission.--
(A) In general.--On receiving notice under
paragraph (2) of an action under this subsection, the
Commission shall have the right--
(i) to intervene in the action;
(ii) upon so intervening, to be heard on
all matters arising therein; and
(iii) to file petitions for appeal.
(B) Limitation on state action while federal action
is pending.--If the Commission or the Attorney General
of the United States has instituted a civil action for
violation of this Act (referred to in this subparagraph
as the ``Federal action''), no State attorney general,
official, or agency may bring an action under this
subsection during the pendency of the Federal action
against any defendant named in the complaint in the
Federal action for any violation of this Act alleged in
such complaint.
(4) Rule of construction.--For purposes of bringing a civil
action under this subsection, nothing in this Act shall be
construed to prevent an attorney general, official, or agency
of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney
general, official, or agency by the laws of such State to
conduct investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or
compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of
documentary and other evidence.
(d) Relationship to State Laws.--
(1) In general.--The provisions of this Act shall preempt
any law, rule, requirement, or regulation of a State, or a
political subdivision of a State, only to the extent that such
law, rule, requirement, or regulation conflicts with a
provision of this Act.
(2) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), nothing in
this Act may be construed--
(A) to preempt any law, rule, requirement, or
regulation of a State, or political subdivision of a
State, with respect to contract, tort, or product
liability; or
(B) to prohibit a State, or a political subdivision
of a State, from enacting or enforcing any law, rule,
requirement, or regulation that provides greater
protection to covered users than the protection
provided by the provisions of this Act.
(e) Effective Date.--Unless otherwise specified, this section shall
take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of
this section.
(f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to determine that a platform shall be considered a covered platform
based on the content hosted on the platform, or on any basis other than
the platform's use of a design feature.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Covered platform.--The term ``covered platform'' means
a platform that is a website, software, application, or
electronic service connected to the internet that meets the
following requirements:
(A) Is publicly available for use by consumers.
(B) Enables the creation of a username or user
identifier--
(i) that is searchable on the platform by
other users through a function made available
by the platform; and
(ii) that can be followed by or is
similarly accessible to other users of the
platform.
(C) As the primary purpose of the platform,
facilitates the sharing and access to user-generated
content through text, images, video, audio, or any
other interactive medium.
(D) Uses a design feature to promote user
engagement on the platform.
(E) Uses the personal information of the user to
advertise, market, or make content recommendations.
(3) Covered user.--The term ``covered user'' means an
individual under the age of 16.
(4) Design feature.--The term ``design feature''--
(A) means any feature or component of a covered
platform that encourages an increase in or increases
the frequency of use or time spent by a user who is a
covered user with respect to such covered platform; and
(B) includes--
(i) infinite scrolling or auto play;
(ii) rewards or incentives based on
frequency of use or time spent;
(iii) notifications and push alerts;
(iv) badges or other visual award symbols
based on frequency of use or time spent;
(v) appearance altering filters; and
(vi) personalized recommendation systems.
(5) Fully automated system.--The term ``fully automated
system'' means an algorithm the final outputs of which are,
once computed, displayed directly to a covered user without
review or alteration by a covered platform.
(6) Know; knows.--The term ``know'' or ``knows'' means to
know or should have known.
(7) Personal data.--The term ``personal data'' has the
meaning given the term ``personal information'' in section 1302
of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15
U.S.C. 6501).
(8) Personalized recommendation system.--The term
``personalized recommendation system''--
(A) means a fully automated system used to suggest,
promote, or rank content, including other users,
hashtags, and posts, based on the personal information
of a user; and
(B) does not include a fully automated system that
suggests, promotes, or ranks content based solely on
the language, city or town, or age of a user.
(9) User.--The term ``user'' means, with respect to a
covered platform, an individual who creates or maintains an
account or profile on the covered platform.
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