US House committee reaches bipartisan deal on social media rules for youth

US House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders have agreed on legislation to require social media platforms to provide safeguards and tools for minors and parents, holding Big Tech accountable.

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee leadership agreed on legislation that ‌would require social media platforms to provide "safeguards and tools" for minors and parents, according to a statement on Monday, a key step in a years-long debate over how to protect children online. Chairman Brett Guthrie and top committee Democrat Frank Pallone declined to release more specific details about the agreement, but said it ‌would "hold Big Tech accountable." "We worked across the aisle for many months and have now found common ground on policies to significantly improve ‌the digital environment for kids,” Guthrie and Pallone said in a joint statement.

Tech companies are under increasing scrutiny in the U.S. for their effect on youth, with parents and state officials pushing to ban phones from schools to limit access. The agreement does not include a "duty of care" provision, a spokesperson for committee Republicans said. Such language would require companies ⁠to design ​social media platforms with children's safety in ⁠mind. The House agreement faces several hurdles before becoming law, including winning support in the Senate and from President Donald Trump. The White House press office did not immediately respond to ⁠a request from Reuters about the deal. Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican in the U.S. House, supports the agreement, according to a source familiar with ​his thinking. House Democrats have long demanded that the "duty of care" provision be included in any children's online safety legislation, complicating the bill's ⁠path forward. At the national level, U.S. lawmakers for years have declined to pass comprehensive legislation regulating social media, prompting states to pass their own laws. At least 20 states enacted laws ⁠last ​year addressing social media use by children, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization that tracks state bills. Reuters previously reported that Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram, lobbied the U.S. Congress for legal immunity from child-harm claims tied to social media products. Meta, ⁠Google's YouTube, TikTok and Snap are facing thousands of lawsuits accusing them of designing social media platforms that are harmful to young people. If such ⁠a provision became law, it could undermine ⁠those cases. Asked about the lobbying effort and the proposed language, Meta spokesperson Stephanie Otway said the provision "does not extinguish existing lawsuits, nor does it represent blanket immunity." Meta and Google's YouTube face a combined $6 million in damages after ‌they lost the ‌first case at trial in California early this year.