TOTAL Screen Time Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9692 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9692

  To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology to support the development of a voluntary technical standard
 for setting a screentime limit across certain devices, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 2026

 Mr. Whitesides (for himself, Mr. Harrigan, Mrs. McClain Delaney, and
 Mr. Haridopolos) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
            the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology to support the development of a voluntary technical standard
 for setting a screentime limit across certain devices, 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 ``Tracking Online Time And Limits
Screen Time Act'' or the ``TOTAL Screen Time Act''.

SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY TECHNICAL STANDARD FOR SETTING A SCREENTIME LIMIT
              ACROSS CERTAIN DEVICES.

    (a) Development.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (in this section referred to as the
``Director'') shall solicit public comment and seek to convene the
stakeholders specified in subsection (b) to support the development of
a voluntary technical standard that satisfies the following
requirements:
            (1) Is for setting a screentime limit across covered
        devices.
            (2) Includes an authentication and authorization model that
        is for minors and the parents or guardians of such minors and
        does not require a certain identity scheme.
            (3) With respect to such limit, minimizes to the extent
        practicable the exchange of data across such devices.
            (4) Does not facilitate a centralized database of
        information relating to the activity of such minors on such
        devices.
            (5) Does not compromise the cybersecurity of such a device.
    (b) Stakeholders Specified.--The stakeholders specified in this
subsection are the following entities:
            (1) The Assistant Secretary for Communications and
        Information.
            (2) The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
            (3) The Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board.
            (4) The Surgeon General.
            (5) Developers of covered devices.
            (6) Organizations that are composed of medical
        professionals who treat minors.
            (7) Organizations that advocate for any of the following:
                    (A) The safety of minors.
                    (B) Privacy.
            (8) International standards organizations.
            (9) Any other entity the Director determines appropriate.
    (c) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter until January 1, 2032,
the Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and publish on a
publicly available website of the Institute a report regarding the
development of the technical standard referred to in subsection (a)
that includes information relating to the following for the annual or
biennial period covered by such report:
            (1) The extent to which such technical standard has been
        developed.
            (2) The extent to which such technical standard has been
        adopted.
            (3) Recommendations, if any, of the Director with respect
        to supporting such development and such adoption.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered device.--The term ``covered device'' means a
        device that satisfies the following requirements:
                    (A) Is any of the following devices:
                            (i) A phone.
                            (ii) A tablet.
                            (iii) A computer.
                            (iv) A game console.
                            (v) A television.
                            (vi) Any other device the Director
                        determines appropriate.
                    (B) Is capable of the following:
                            (i) Playing screen media or other
                        audiovisual content.
                            (ii) Enforcing a screentime limit.
            (2) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has
        not attained 18 years of age.
            (3) Screentime.--The term ``screentime'' means time during
        which screen media or other audiovisual content is played on a
        covered device, regardless of whether such media or content, as
        the case may be, is so played in the foreground or the
        background.
                                 <all>