Senate Commerce to Mark Up Kids’ Social Media Bill Thursday
The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday plans to mark up legislation that would regulate kids’ social media use, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., announced Friday.
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The Kids Off Social Media Act should pass the committee with broad, bipartisan support, ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us recently (see 2405060059). He introduced the bill with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Cantwell told reporters Thursday she hasn’t formed an opinion on the bill's latest version.
The Kids Off Social Media Act is listed on the agenda with several telecom-related bills (see 2405100046). Cruz and Schatz failed to attach the legislation to the FAA bill last week. The bill would eliminate algorithmic-targeted content for children younger than 17 and block children 13 and under from using social media platforms.
It was clear last week that nongermane amendments weren’t going to be considered with the FAA bill, Schatz said: “Everything was subject to the same circumstances. ... I don’t think anybody should overinterpret the inability to get to amendments, but there’s certainly appetite for further legislating in this Congress, and I think we need to keep the doors open.”
Schatz originally introduced a bill in 2023. The latest version includes language from Cruz’s Eyes on the Board Act, which would ban social media platforms on public school devices and networks.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., a co-sponsor of the Cruz-Schatz bill, said Congress has a “poor record” of passing anything that regulates tech platforms, but hopefully approval of the recent TikTok legislation (see 2404240060) is a “sign” lawmakers are ready to approve measures protecting kids’ online safety and privacy.
Senate Commerce originally scheduled the markup for May 1. Cantwell’s office postponed that due to time constraints related to FAA reauthorization (see 2404300072). “We just ran out of time at the last markup,” Cantwell told reporters Thursday. The May 1 agenda included two AI-related bills: the Create AI Act (S-2714) and the Future of AI Innovation Act (S-4178). Those bills aren’t listed for Thursday.
Senate committees are expected to take the lead on AI legislative proposals, members of the AI working group told us last week. The group, formed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to release an AI road map with committee recommendations in the coming weeks, Sens. Mike Rounds, R-N.D., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., told us.
“We’re literally wrapping up” and “getting everyone aligned on one document today,” Heinrich said Thursday. “I’m optimistic next week or the week after we will hopefully put something out in public.”
Heinrich described the road map as a “directional document that tasks the committees” with legislative priorities. “We’re not trying to take over the legislative process for the appropriate committees but show where there’s the greatest amount of consensus and urge them to produce legislation that can withstand a large majority, something that can withstand filibuster,” he said.
“It’s coming together fairly nicely, and it’s pretty broad in nature: more recommendations to get the committees directly involved,” Rounds said. The document will include incentives and guidelines for AI development, he added.
Warner said he looks forward to working with Schumer to put some “guardrails in place.” He noted Senate Intelligence has already filed about half a dozen AI-related bills, some addressing national security implications. Warner said he wants to work with the Senate Banking Committee on legislation combating AI manipulation of public markets and with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on election interference bills.