House passes Kids Internet safety bill, Senate fight looms
House lawmakers approved a 115-page children’s online safety package 267-117, adding privacy and AI-chatbot rules but setting up a Senate fight over speech and control.
House lawmakers passed a 115-page children’s online safety package 267-117, sending a bill to the Senate that tightens digital protections for minors while reopening fights over speech, privacy and platform control. The Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act combines portions of more than 10 bills and emerged after House Energy and Commerce leaders Brett Guthrie and Frank Pallone Jr. reached a bipartisan compromise on June 23.
The revised package is roughly twice the length of the version the committee advanced in March on a party-line vote. It adds data privacy protections for children and teens, scales back earlier preemption language that had drawn concern, and would create a federal framework for online platforms, gaming services and AI chatbots. Under the bill, companies would need default child safety protections, stricter parental controls and limits on algorithmic targeting and engagement practices.
AI chatbots would have to disclose that they are artificial systems, provide crisis hotline information when a user discusses self-harm or suicidal ideation, and prompt a break after three hours of continuous interaction. The package also requires policies meant to block promotion of illicit drugs, gambling, sexual exploitation and other harmful content to minors. For parents, the bill promises more control over what children can see and how platforms collect data. For tech companies, it means less freedom to tune feeds and more compliance pressure around recommendation systems, safety defaults and chatbot design.
In a joint statement, Guthrie and Pallone wrote, “We worked across the aisle for many months and have now found common ground on policies to significantly improve the digital environment for kids.” The measure aims to protect children, empower parents and hold internet platforms accountable. Digital rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, argue the same framework can still pressure platforms to censor protected speech and can threaten access to sexual health, gender identity and eating-disorder information. The ACLU helped lead a Capitol Hill lobbying day with more than 300 students opposing the bill.
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