16 & Up Social Media Act

required of the user to what is strictly necessary to verify the age of the user; and (D) not use any personal data or evidence submitted during the review process for any purpose other than evaluating the legitimacy of the appeal and determining whether the user is a covered user, and not retain, sell, transfer, or otherwise use any personal data collected as part of such process. (b) Enforcement by the Commission.-- (1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices. (2) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall enforce this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act. (c) Actions by States.-- (1) In general.--In any case in which the attorney general of a State, or an official or agency of a State, has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of such State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by an act or practice in violation of this section, the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in an appropriate State court or an appropriate district court of the United States to-- (A) enjoin such act or practice; (B) enforce compliance with this section; (C) obtain damages, restitution, or other compensation on behalf of residents of the State; or (D) obtain such other legal and equitable relief as the court may consider to be appropriate. (2) Notice.--Before filing an action under this subsection, the attorney general, official, or agency of the State involved shall provide to the Commission a written notice of such action and a copy of the complaint for such action. If the attorney general, official, or agency determines that it is not feasible to provide the notice described in this paragraph before the filing of the action, the attorney general, official, or agency shall provide written notice of the action and a copy of the complaint to the Commission immediately upon the filing of the action. (3) Authority of commission.-- (A) In general.--On receiving notice under paragraph (2) of an action under this subsection, the Commission shall have the right-- (i) to intervene in the action; (ii) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters arising therein; and (iii) to file petitions for appeal. (B) Limitation on state action while federal action is pending.--If the Commission or the Attorney General of the United States has instituted a civil action for violation of this Act (referred to in this subparagraph as the ``Federal action''), no State attorney general, official, or agency may bring an action under this subsection during the pendency of the Federal action against any defendant named in the complaint in the Federal action for any violation of this Act alleged in such complaint. (4) Rule of construction.--For purposes of bringing a civil action under this subsection, nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney general, official, or agency of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general, official, or agency by the laws of such State to conduct investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence. (d) Relationship to State Laws.-- (1) In general.--The provisions of this Act shall preempt any law, rule, requirement, or regulation of a State, or a political subdivision of a State, only to the extent that such law, rule, requirement, or regulation conflicts with a provision of this Act. (2) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), nothing in this Act may be construed-- (A) to preempt any law, rule, requirement, or regulation of a State, or political subdivision of a State, with respect to contract, tort, or product liability; or (B) to prohibit a State, or a political subdivision of a State, from enacting or enforcing any law, rule, requirement, or regulation that provides greater protection to covered users than the protection provided by the provisions of this Act. (e) Effective Date.--Unless otherwise specified, this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this section. (f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to determine that a platform shall be considered a covered platform based on the content hosted on the platform, or on any basis other than the platform's use of a design feature. (g) Definitions.--In this section: (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal Trade Commission. (2) Covered platform.--The term ``covered platform'' means a platform that is a website, software, application, or electronic service connected to the internet that meets the following requirements: (A) Is publicly available for use by consumers. (B) Enables the creation of a username or user identifier-- (i) that is searchable on the platform by other users through a function made available by the platform; and (ii) that can be followed by or is similarly accessible to other users of the platform. (C) As the primary purpose of the platform, facilitates the sharing and access to user-generated content through text, images, video, audio, or any other interactive medium. (D) Uses a design feature to promote user engagement on the platform. (E) Uses the personal information of the user to advertise, market, or make content recommendations. (3) Covered user.--The term ``covered user'' means an individual under the age of 16. (4) Design feature.--The term ``design feature''-- (A) means any feature or component of a covered platform that encourages an increase in or increases the frequency of use or time spent by a user who is a covered user with respect to such covered platform; and (B) includes-- (i) infinite scrolling or auto play; (ii) rewards or incentives based on frequency of use or time spent; (iii) notifications and push alerts; (iv) badges or other visual award symbols based on frequency of use or time spent; (v) appearance altering filters; and (vi) personalized recommendation systems. (5) Fully automated system.--The term ``fully automated system'' means an algorithm the final outputs of which are, once computed, displayed directly to a covered user without review or alteration by a covered platform. (6) Know; knows.--The term ``know'' or ``knows'' means to know or should have known. (7) Personal data.--The term ``personal data'' has the meaning given the term ``personal information'' in section 1302 of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501). (8) Personalized recommendation system.--The term ``personalized recommendation system''-- (A) means a fully automated system used to suggest, promote, or rank content, including other users, hashtags, and posts, based on the personal information of a user; and (B) does not include a fully automated system that suggests, promotes, or ranks content based solely on the language, city or town, or age of a user. (9) User.--The term ``user'' means, with respect to a covered platform, an individual who creates or maintains an account or profile on the covered platform. <all>