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...

Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote a letter on Tuesday urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate “regarding the manipulative marketing practices by apps designed for children”. This comes after the release of a research study, which indicated that popular apps for children in the iOS and Android systems are filled with advertisements which prompt and encourage young children to make in-app purchases, collect their personal data, all the while distracting them from the in-game experience. The Senators emphasized the FTC’s statutory obligation to protect consumers’ welfare from “unfair and deceptive” marketing practices. The letter also states that “[c]hildren should be able to entertain themselves and play without being bombarded by promotional messages, which young people may not be able to accurately assess and identify as marketing….As parents increasingly permit kids to engage in online games and apps for entertain...