Two bills from U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) were included in the broader Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, which recently passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee and now heads to the full House for consideration.
The KIDS Act, H.R. 7757, addresses a range of online dangers facing children, including shielding minors from obscene content, strengthening parental controls, barring minors from using self-deleting messaging features, prohibiting targeted market research on children, and establishing safeguards for online gaming platforms.
“Protecting kids online is one of the most urgent challenges we face in today’s digital age,” Rep. Houchin said.
Rep. Houchin, who serves as co-chair of the Kids Online Safety Caucus, authored two bills included in the package.
The AI Warnings and Resources for Education (AWARE) Act directs the Federal Trade Commission to develop publicly available educational resources for parents, educators, and minors on the risks and benefits of AI chatbot use, privacy and data collection practices, and best practices for keeping children safe when interacting with AI.
Her Safeguarding Adolescents From Exploitative BOTs Act, known as the SAFE BOTs Act, H.R. 6489, builds on that framework by requiring chatbot providers to clearly disclose to minors when they are interacting with an AI system rather than a real person. The bill prohibits AI chatbots from falsely claiming to be licensed professionals such as doctors or therapists, mandates that crisis hotline information be provided when a minor raises the topic of suicide or self-harm, and requires break prompts after extended chatbot sessions. It also requires reasonable policies to prevent minors from accessing sexual content, gambling, and illegal substances through AI chatbot platforms.
“Without these reforms, parents are outmatched by new technology powered by Big Tech,” the congresswoman added. “Parents and kids deserve an internet ecosystem that puts their safety and wellbeing first with parents clearly in the driver’s seat.”