Text of Senate Amendment 6266

On 2026-06-24, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6266" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6266

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3420-S3423] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6266. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of division A, add the following new titles: TITLE XVII--KIDS OFF SOCIAL MEDIA ACT SEC. 1701. SHORT TITLE. This title may be referred to as the ``Kids Off Social Media Act''. [[Page S3421]] SEC. 1702. DEFINITIONS. In this title: (1) Personalized recommendation system.--The term ``personalized recommendation system'' means a fully or partially automated system used to suggest, promote, or rank content, including other users or posts, based on the personal data of users. (2) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual under the age of 13. (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal Trade Commission. (4) Know; knows.--The term ``know'' or ``knows'' means to have actual knowledge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances. (5) Personal data.--The term ``personal data'' has the same meaning as the term ``personal information'' as defined in section 1302 of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501) . (6) Social media platform.-- (A) In general.--The term ``social media platform'' means a public-facing website, online service, online application, or mobile application that-- (i) is directed to consumers; (ii) collects personal data; (iii) primarily derives revenue from advertising or the sale of personal data; and (iv) as its primary function provides a community forum for user-generated content, including messages, videos, and audio files among users where such content is primarily intended for viewing, resharing, or platform-enabled distributed social endorsement or comment. (B) Limitation.--The term ``social media platform'' does not include a platform that, as its primary function for consumers, provides or facilitates any of the following: (i) The purchase and sale of commercial goods. (ii) Teleconferencing or videoconferencing services that allow reception and transmission of audio or video signals for real-time communication, provided that the real-time communication is initiated by using a unique link or identifier to facilitate access. (iii) Crowd-sourced reference guides such as encyclopedias and dictionaries. (iv) Cloud storage, file sharing, or file collaboration services, including such services that allow collaborative editing by invited users. (v) The playing or creation of video games. (vi) Content that consists primarily of news, sports, sports coverage, entertainment, or other information or content that is not user-generated but is preselected by the platform and for which any chat, comment, or interactive functionality is incidental, directly related to, or dependent on the provision of the content provided by the platform. (vii) Business, product, or travel information including user reviews or rankings of such businesses, products, or other travel information. (viii) Educational information, experiences, training, or instruction provided to build knowledge, skills, or a craft, district-sanctioned or school-sanctioned learning management systems and school information systems for the purposes of schools conveying content related to the education of students, or services or services on behalf of or in support of an elementary school or secondary school, as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). (ix) An email service. (x) A wireless messaging service, including such a service provided through short message service or multimedia messaging protocols, that is not a component of, or linked to, a social media platform and where the predominant or exclusive function of the messaging service is direct messaging consisting of the transmission of text, photos, or videos that are sent by electronic means, where messages are transmitted from the sender to the recipient and are not posted publicly or within a social media platform. (xi) A broadband internet access service (as such term is defined for purposes of section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation). (xii) A virtual private network or similar service that exists solely to route internet traffic between locations. (7) Teen.--The term ``teen'' means an individual over the age of 12 and under the age of 17. (8) User.--The term ``user'' means, with respect to a social media platform, an individual who registers an account or creates a profile on the social media platform. SEC. 1703. NO CHILDREN UNDER 13. (a) No Accounts for Children Under 13.--A social media platform shall not permit an individual to create or maintain an account or profile if it knows that the individual is a child. (b) Termination of Existing Accounts Belonging to Children.--A social media platform shall terminate any existing account or profile of a user who the social media platform knows is a child. (c) Deletion of Children's Personal Data.-- (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), upon termination of an existing account or profile of a user pursuant to subsection (b), a social media platform shall immediately delete all personal data collected from the user or submitted by the user to the social media platform. (2) Children's access to personal data.--To the extent technically feasible and not in violation of any licensing agreement, a social media platform shall allow the user of an existing account or profile that the social media platform has terminated under subsection (b), 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 social media platform both-- (A) in a manner that is readable and which a reasonable person can understand; and (B) in a portable, structured, and machine-readable format. (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection (c) shall be construed to prohibit a social media platform from retaining a record of the termination of an account or profile and the minimum information necessary for the purposes of ensuring compliance with this section. SEC. 1704. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS ON CHILDREN OR TEENS. (a) In General.-- (1) Prohibition on use of personalized recommendation systems on children or teens.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a social media platform shall not use the personal data of a user or visitor in a personalized recommendation system to display content if the platform knows that the user or visitor is a child or teen. (2) Exception.--A social media platform may use a personalized recommendation system to display content to a child or teen if the system only uses the following personal data of the child or teen: (A) The type of device used by the child or teen. (B) The languages used by the child or teen to communicate. (C) The city or town in which the child or teen is located. (D) The fact that the individual is a child or teen. (E) The age of the child or teen. (b) Rule of Construction.--The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not be construed to-- (1) prevent a social media platform from providing search results to a child or teen deliberately or independently searching for (such as by typing a phrase into a search bar or providing spoken input), or specifically requesting, content, so long as such results are not based on the personal data of the child or teen (except to the extent permitted under subsection (a)(2)); (2) prevent a social media platform from taking reasonable measures to-- (A) block, detect, or prevent the distribution of unlawful or obscene material; (B) block or filter spam, or protect the security of a platform or service; or (C) prevent criminal activity; or (3) prohibit a social media platform from displaying user- generated content that has been selected, followed, or subscribed to by a teen account holder as long as the display of the content is based on a chronological format. SEC. 1705. DETERMINATION OF WHETHER AN OPERATOR HAS KNOWLEDGE FAIRLY IMPLIED ON THE BASIS OF OBJECTIVE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS A CHILD OR TEEN. (a) Rules of Construction.--For purposes of enforcing this title, in making a determination as to whether a social media platform has knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances that a user is a child or teen, the Commission or the attorney general of a State, as applicable, shall rely on competent and reliable evidence, taking into account the totality of circumstances, including whether a reasonable and prudent person under the circumstances would have known that the user is a child or teen. (b) Protections for Privacy.--Nothing in this title, including a determination described in subsection (a), shall be construed to require a social media platform to-- (1) implement an age gating or age verification functionality; or (2) affirmatively collect any personal data with respect to the age of users that the social media platform is not already collecting in the normal course of business. (c) Restriction on Use and Retention of Personal Data.--If a social media platform or a third party acting on behalf of a social media platform voluntarily collects personal data for the purpose of complying with this title, the social media platform or a third party shall not-- (1) use any personal data collected spec