United States Senators, Mr. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut and Mr. Edward Markey from Massachusetts, introduced a new bill referred to as the Kids Internet Design and Safety Act (the “KIDS Act”). One of the Senator’s introducing the KIDS Act, Mr. Edward Markey, was the co-author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).
The KIDS Act seeks to include noteworthy advertising rules and create new protections for children online, specifically for online users under the age of 16. The proposed advertising rules within the KIDS Act are to ban websites from: (1) exposing young online users to advertisements “with embedded interactive elements”; (2) recommending any content involving alcohol, nicotine, or tobacco to young online users; and (3) recommending content that includes influencer marketing, like unboxing videos, or host-selling to young online users. Additionally, the KIDS Act seeks to prohibit certain online features to protect children, like prohibiting: (1) “auto-play” settings, which lead to longer online viewing; (2) push alerts or notifications that encourage additional screen-time on devices; and (3) badges, which reward users for spending further time on mobile applications or websites. Lastly, the KIDS Act proposes a requirement for websites to have a reporting mechanism for users to report harmful online content the website recommends to young users; and ban children and teen “websites from amplifying violent, inappropriate, and dangerous content.”
We will keeping an eye on this and all other proposed bills. Please check back to continue to learn more about this evolving landscape. For more information, visit U.S. Senator Edward Markey’s Press Release or view the KIDS Act proposal.