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Last Update: 08/01/2026 at 2:00 PM EST
States Tighten Kids’ Online Safety Rules
Coverage from EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center, JD Supra, and others
Articles
27
Active Days
168
The Topic
U.S. lawmakers and regulators are tightening requirements for online services used by minors, with South Carolina’s age-appropriate design law requiring safety-by-design measures, data minimization, user controls, limits on targeted advertising, and independent audits. The law is already facing a constitutional and federal-preemption challenge, while Congress remains divided over whether federal legislation should impose a duty of care, require age verification, or preserve stricter state rules. The policy direction is toward greater platform accountability, but the final legal framework remains unsettled.
First Article: 02/06/26
Latest Article: 07/23/26
Summary
- South Carolina’s age-appropriate design law took effect immediately and applies safety, privacy, advertising, parental-control, and audit obligations to covered online services.
- The South Carolina law requires protections for known minors, including controls over engagement features, recommendations, notifications, geolocation, visibility, and data retention.
- NetChoice sued to block the South Carolina law, alleging First Amendment, due process, Commerce Clause, and COPPA preemption violations.
- Other state age-appropriate design measures remain legally uneven: California and Maryland provisions have been stayed, while Vermont’s law is scheduled to take effect in 2027.
- The House passed the KIDS Act, but Senate support is stronger for a competing approach that includes a platform duty of care.
- Age verification and federal preemption remain major fault lines, with privacy groups warning that verification systems could affect all internet users and states seeking to retain stricter safeguards.
History
The story is mostly stable, but the framing has broadened from a South Carolina-specific dispute into a wider U.S. policy fight over how minors’ online safety rules should be structured. The current version also sharpens the federal debate by emphasizing competing views on duty of care, age verification, and state preemption.
South Carolina has moved from proposed child-privacy tightening to an enacted age-appropriate design law now in force, and the fight has shifted into litigation. At the federal level, the KIDS Act also advanced, but its Senate prospects remain contested, keeping the policy landscape fragmented.
Featured
02-06-2026
South Carolina enacted the age appropriate design code this week to curb minor data collection and dark patterns.
02-23-2026
South Carolina enacted HB 3431 on February 5 2026 in South Carolina to regulate online services accessed by minors.
02-20-2026
South Carolina Governor signs act on February 5, 2026 to regulate minor oriented website design and advertising.
Timeline: 168 Days
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Additional Articles
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U.S. House passed the KIDS Act on Monday night, while Senate leaders and privacy advocates criticized privacy-invasive elements and the absence of a duty of care provision.
House Energy and Commerce leaders agreed on the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act to extend KOSA-style duties, minors privacy settings, and an FTC data broker registry in the USA.
House Energy and Commerce leaders Guthrie and Pallone announced KIDS Act revisions requiring default minors privacy settings, safety audits, and age verification for mature content.
Congress advanced the KIDS Act requiring platform privacy and safety controls for minors, while critics argue age-based obligations will increase data collection before Senate and presidential approval.
House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders Guthrie and Pallone agreed to advance the KIDS Act, combining KOSA with minors privacy requirements for platforms and data brokers.
U.S. House passed the bipartisan KIDS Act for online child protections, with civil liberties critics warning age-gating could increase tracking and harm adult privacy and speech.
Congress is preparing an ultra-expedited vote on the KIDS Act, with proposed age verification and moderation rules that could affect encrypted private messaging.
The U.S. House passed the KIDS Act on June 29, 2026, merging KOSA and COPPA 2.0 and expanding minors privacy rights and platform default protections.
Congress prepares to vote on the KIDS Act, which would expand KOSA-based minor-age verification and impose messaging and moderation rules affecting encrypted and ephemeral communications in the USA.
U.S. House approval of the Kids Online Safety Act would require under-18 platform safeguards, while age-verification rules face privacy and free speech challenges.
U.S. House passage of the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act would push platforms toward age-gating and identifying data collection, raising privacy and speech concerns.
Texas sued Snap in 2025 under minors privacy law over alleged failures to obtain verifiable parental consent for collecting and sharing minors data for targeted advertising.
Texas attorney general sued Snap in 2025-2026 enforcement efforts targeting minors privacy duties for parental notice, verifiable consent, and safeguards.
The House passed the KIDS Act on a 267-117 vote, requiring age checks and platform content-policing rules while raising privacy and speech concerns.
South Carolina and Alabama enacted minors-focused age assurance and app-store consent rules as states and the 40-state Attorneys General push for KOSA at the federal level.
Henry McMaster signed South Carolina H.B. 4591 on May 19, requiring platforms to repeatedly estimate user age and apply stricter parental-consent rules for users under 16 starting January 1, 2027.
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House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders Guthrie and Pallone agreed June 22, 2026 on a bipartisan KIDS Act package for child privacy, default safety, and data broker transparency.
The US House approved the KIDS Act in the 2020s, proposing nationwide age verification for mature online content, raising privacy and surveillance concerns.
Brett Guthrie and Frank Pallone announced House Energy and Commerce agreement on the KIDS Act in Washington, D.C., focusing on children and teens online privacy and data broker transparency.
Brett Guthrie and Frank Pallone Jr. announced agreement on the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act in Washington, D.C., emphasizing children online privacy and data broker transparency.
U.S. House approval of the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act raises privacy concerns as critics warn age-dependent requirements could expand data collection and profiling.
On June 29, the U.S. House passed the KIDS Act, narrowing federal preemption for children's online privacy and removing a duty of care element that remains central to Senate negotiations.
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States regulate minors data and design features; California began in 2022, Maryland faced stays, Vermont enacted in 2025; effect by 2027.
NetChoice files federal suit in South Carolina on February 9 challenging the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act.