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Parental Approval for Youth Social Media Act of 2026
Introduced Aug 4, 2026 · Last action Aug 4, 2026 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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Summary
This legislation is called the Parental Approval for Youth Social Media Act of 2026. It is being reviewed by a committee.
Full bill text
Introduced in Senate · Aug 4, 2026
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5226 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5226
To require social media platform providers to obtain parental consent
with respect to children creating or maintaining accounts or profiles
on their platforms, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 4, 2026
Mr. Gallego introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require social media platform providers to obtain parental consent
with respect to children creating or maintaining accounts or profiles
on their 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 ``Parental Approval for Youth Social
Media Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING PARENTAL CONSENT FOR CHILDREN TO ACCESS SOCIAL MEDIA.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Social media use by children has been linked to mental
health and developmental harms.
(2) Certain social media platform features, including
recommendation algorithms and engagement-maximizing designs,
may exacerbate those harms.
(3) Children require additional protections online.
(b) In General.--
(1) Requiring verifiable parental consent for children to
create or maintain social media platform accounts.--
(A) In general.--Unless a social media platform
provider has received verifiable parental consent from
the parent of a user that the social media platform
provider knows or should know is a child, such social
media platform provider may not allow such child to
create or maintain an account or profile on the social
medial platform of the provider.
(B) Parent-supervised account.--If a social media
platform provider receives verifiable parental consent
for a child to create and maintain an account or
profile on the social media platform of the provider,
such social media platform provider shall ensure that
such account or profile is a parent-supervised account.
(2) Age and parental consent verification.--
(A) In general.--A social media platform provider
shall take reasonable steps to determine--
(i) whether a user of the social media
platform is a child; and
(ii) in the event the social media platform
provider determines that a user is a child--
(I) whether verifiable parental
consent has been obtained; and
(II) whether the account of such
child is a parent-supervised account.
(B) Use of information.--A social media platform
provider--
(i) may not use any information collected
in complying with subparagraph (A) for any
other purpose; and
(ii) shall, unless required by other
applicable law, delete such information--
(I) when the user to which such
information applies turns 16 years of
age; or
(II) if the user to which such
information applies deletes their
account or profile before the date the
user turns 16 years of age, when the
user deletes their account or profile.
(3) Regulations.--The Commission may promulgate regulations
establishing--
(A) acceptable methods by which a social media
platform provider may determine whether a user of the
platform is a child;
(B) acceptable methods by which a social media
platform provider may obtain and verify parental
consent; and
(C) minimum requirements for parent-supervised
accounts.
(c) Enforcement.--
(1) Enforcement by the commission.--
(A) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A
violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under
this Act shall be treated as a violation of a rule
defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under
section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
(B) Powers of the commission.--
(i) In general.--The Commission shall
enforce this Act 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.
(ii) Privileges and immunities.--Any person
who violates this Act or a regulation
promulgated under this Act shall be subject to
the penalties and entitled to the privileges
and immunities provided in the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
(iii) Authority preserved.--Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to limit the authority
of the Commission under any other provision of
law.
(iv) Rulemaking.--The Commission shall
promulgate in accordance with section 553 of
title 5, United States Code, such rules as may
be necessary to carry out this Act.
(2) Enforcement by states.--
(A) In general.--In any case in which the attorney
general of a State has reason to believe that an
interest of the residents of the State has been or is
threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of
any person in a practice that violates this Act, the
attorney general of the State may, as parens patriae,
bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the
State in an appropriate district court of the United
States to--
(i) enjoin further violation of this Act by
such person;
(ii) compel compliance with this Act;
(iii) obtain damages, restitution, or other
compensation on behalf of such residents; and
(iv) obtain such other relief as the court
may consider to be appropriate.
(B) Rights of the commission.--
(i) Notice to the commission.--
(I) In general.--Except as provided
in subclause (III), the attorney
general of a State shall notify the
Commission in writing that the attorney
general intends to bring a civil action
under subparagraph (A) before
initiating the civil action.
(II) Contents.--The notification
required by subclause (I) with respect
to a civil action shall include a copy
of the complaint to be filed to
initiate the civil action.
(III) Exception.--If it is not
feasible for the attorney general of a
State to provide the notification
required by subclause (I) before
initiating a civil action under
subparagraph (A), the attorney general
shall notify the Commission immediately
upon instituting the civil action.
(ii) Intervention by the commission.--The
Commission may--
(I) intervene in any civil action
brought by the attorney general of a
State under subparagraph (A); and
(II) upon intervening--
(aa) be heard on all
matters arising in the civil
action; and
(bb) file petitions for
appeal of a decision in the
civil action.
(C) Investigatory powers.--Nothing in this
paragraph may be construed to prevent the attorney
general of a State from exercising the powers conferred
on the attorney general by the laws of the State to
conduct investigations, to administer oaths or
affirmations, or to compel the attendance of witnesses
or the production of documentary or other evidence.
(D) Action by the commission.--If the Commission
institutes a civil action or an administrative action
with respect to a violation of this Act, the attorney
general of a State may not, during the pendency of such
action, bring a civil action under subparagraph (A)
against any defendant named in the complaint of the
Commission for the violation with respect to which the
Commission instituted such action.
(E) Venue; service of process.--
(i) Venue.--Any action brought under
subparagraph (A) may be brought in--
(I) the district court of the
United States that meets applicable
requirements relating to venue under
section 1391 of title 28, United States
Code; or
(II) another court of competent
jurisdiction.
(ii) Service of process.--In an action
brought under subparagraph (A), process may be
served in any district in which the defendant--
(I) is an inhabitant; or
(II) may be found.
(F) Actions by other state officials.--
(i) In general.--In addition to civil
actions brought by attorneys general under
subparagraph (A), any other officer of a State
who is authorized by the State to do so may
bring a civil action under subparagraph (A),
subject to the same requirements and
limitations that apply under this subsection to
civil actions brought by attorneys general.
(ii) Savings provision.--Nothing in this
paragraph may be construed to prohibit an
authorized official of a State from initiating
or continuing any proceeding in a court of the
State for a violation of any civil or criminal
law of the State.
(d) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual who has
not attained 16 years of age.
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(3) Educational platform.--The term ``educational
platform'' means a district-sanctioned or school-sanctioned
learning management system or school information system used
for the education of students.
(4) Parent.--The term ``parent'' includes a legal guardian
of a child.
(5) Parent-supervised account.--The term ``parent-
supervised account'' means an account or profile of a child on
a social media platform that provides a parent of such child
with meaningful oversight tools that allow such parent to
supervise and manage such child's use of the social media
platform, including tools such as--
(A) the ability to access and manage the privacy
and account settings of the account or profile;
(B) the ability to establish or modify time limits
regarding the child's use of the social media platform;
(C) the ability to limit or disable direct messages
or other private communications with other users of the
social media platform;
(D) the ability to limit, approve, or disable
purchases and other financial transactions on the
social media platform;
(E) the ability to manage who may contact, follow,
or otherwise interact with the account or profile;
(F) the ability to view the child's activity and
use of the social media platform; and
(G) any additional oversight tools determined by
the Commission to be appropriate through rulemaking.
(6) Social media platform.--
(A) In general.--The term ``social media
platform''--
(i) means a website or internet medium
that--
(I) permits a person to become a
registered user, establish an account,
or create a profile for the purpose of
allowing users to create, share, and
view user-generated content through
such an account or profile;
(II) enables 1 or more users to
generate content that can be viewed by
other users of the website or internet
medium; and
(III) primarily serves as a medium
for users to interact with content
generated by other users of the website
or internet medium; and
(ii) does not include--
(I) an email service;
(II) a text messaging service;
(III) an educational platform;
(IV) a video conferencing service;
(V) online gaming where social
interaction is incidental to the game
being played; or
(VI) a communication service or
tool where social interaction is
incidental to the primary function of
such service or tool.
(B) FTC ruleamking authority.--In order to address
evolving technologies and platforms, the Commission may
promulgate in accordance with section 553 of title 5,
United States Code, rules to determine what websites or
internet mediums meet the definition of ``social media
platform''.
(7) Social media platform provider.--The term ``social
media platform provider'' means any person who, for commercial
purposes in or affecting commerce, provides, manages, operates,
controls, or manufacturers a social media platform.
(8) Text messaging service.--The term ``text messaging
service'' means a wireless messaging service, including such a
service provided through short message service or multimedia
messaging protocols that--
(A) is not a component of, or linked to, a social
media platform; and
(B) has a predominant or exclusive function of
direct messaging consisting of the transmission of
text, photos, or videos sent--
(i) by electronic means; and
(ii) from the sender to the recipient.
(9) Verifiable parental consent.--The term ``verifiable
parental consent'' means any reasonable effort (taking into
consideration available technology) to ensure that a parent of
a child authorizes such child to create and maintain an account
or profile on a social media platform.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record.
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
Timeline reflects current normalized status only. Full action history is not yet stored in the API.
Sponsors
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ]DSenateAZ
Cosponsors
No cosponsors on record.
Votes
Voting records are not yet available for this bill.