On March 5, Congress took several steps forward on two pieces of children’s online safety and privacy legislation, with both chambers passing measures aimed at strengthening protections for minors in digital spaces.

In the House of Representatives, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to advance the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act to the House floor for consideration by the full chamber. The legislation seeks to establish new requirements related to children’s online safety and privacy, including national age-verification standards, enhanced safety settings for children’s accounts, and mandated disclosures for artificial intelligence chatbots. The bill also calls for studies examining the mental health impacts of social media and addresses issues related to addictive platform design and online safety protections for younger users.

On the same day, the Senate unanimously passed the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), a bipartisan bill that updates and expands existing federal privacy protections for minors. The legislation would extend certain protections to teens, prohibit platforms from collecting personal data from younger users, and ban targeted advertising to users under the age of 17. Additional provisions include requiring opt-in consent for data collection from users ages 13 to 16, implementing an “eraser button” that allows users to delete personal data from public view, and updating methods for verifying parental consent. The bill also places new limits on data collection practices involving minors.

The Toy Association will continue to keep the industry apprised of legislative developments in this area as they evolve.

For more information on The Toy Association’s advocacy initiatives at the federal level or to join the Federal Government Affairs Committee, members may contact Maria Sierra, vice president of government affairs.