Parental Approval for Youth Social Media Act of 2026

This bill would bar social media companies from letting a user under age 16 create or keep an account unless the company has received verifiable consent from the child's parent or legal guardian. Accounts approved this way would have to be parent-supervised, giving parents tools such as managing privacy settings, setting time limits, limiting messages and purchases, and viewing the child's activity. Companies would have to take reasonable steps to check users' ages and parental consent, could not use that information for other purposes, and would have to delete it when the user turns 16 or deletes the account. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general could enforce the law, and email, texting, school learning systems, video calls, and certain online games would not count as social media.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Ruben Gallego Democrat sponsor
• 0 cosponsors