September 10, 2026
Mrs. Houchin (for herself and Mr. Auchincloss) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
To prohibit certain platforms from allowing covered users to create or maintain an account or profile on such platforms, and for other purposes.
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.