Senate Committee to Weigh Five Bills on Children, Privacy and Artificial Intelligence

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is preparing to mark up five bills that would affect online privacy, children's safety and artificial intelligence. The measures range from broad data and design obligations to specific requirements for AI chatbots and AI-enabled toys.

The most prominent, the Kids Online Safety Act, would require online platforms, including social media, video games, messaging apps and streaming services, to exercise "reasonable care" when designing features that could encourage addictive or harmful behavior in minors. It would give parents tools to monitor accounts, prohibit product research on children under 13, and empower the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and enforce the law.

Nearly 100 parent, youth and tech-focused organizations opposed the bill in a June letter, objecting to a watered down House version that removed a stronger "duty of care." They pointed to ongoing lawsuits alleging that platforms contribute to teenage addiction, depression, suicide and non-consensual deepfakes. The bill's sponsors have kept the duty of care provisions in the Senate version.

Other measures address different concerns for children and families:

• The SCREEN Act would require age verification technology, which critics warn depends on collecting and storing sensitive identity data, expanding the risk of breaches.
• The Youth AI Privacy Act would require chatbots to disclose they are not human, limit data retention, and bar the use of minors' data for AI training.
• The Chatbot Act would require "family accounts" letting parents monitor and restrict children's chatbot interactions.
• The Children's Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act would create a federal study of toys that include AI or chatbot components.

The original reporting for this development is by CyberScoop, available at https://cyberscoop.com/senate-kids-online-safety-act-ai-bills-markup/.