{"id":"a4a5a5253240cbbd","congress_number":119,"bill_type":"s","bill_number":"4199","title":"Youth AI Privacy Act","plain_summary":"Restricts how AI systems collect, use, and train on data from minors. It would extend youth privacy protections into the AI training and chatbot context.","ai_relevance_score":0.9,"topics":["privacy","safety","transparency"],"status":"markup","introduced_at":"2026-03-25","last_action_at":"2026-08-05","last_action_text":"Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.","sponsor_id":"M000133","full_text_url":null,"created_at":"2026-08-27T17:36:46.532Z","updated_at":"2026-09-09T02:08:29.132Z","ai_reasoning":null,"reported_at":"2026-08-05","passed_house_at":null,"passed_senate_at":null,"became_law_at":null,"recorded_votes":[],"classifier":null,"url":"https://whovotedwhy.com/bills/a4a5a5253240cbbd","congress_gov_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4199","sponsor":{"id":"M000133","bioguide_id":"M000133","first_name":"Edward","last_name":"Markey","full_name":"Edward Markey","party":"D","state":"MA","chamber":"senate","district":null,"title":"Senator","photo_url":null,"twitter_handle":"SenMarkey","official_website":"https://www.markey.senate.gov","fec_candidate_ids":["H6MA07101","S4MA00028"],"lis_id":"S369","is_active":true,"term_start":"2025-01-03","term_end":"2027-01-03","created_at":"2026-09-08T22:51:51.014Z","updated_at":"2026-09-09T02:08:13.531Z"},"roll_calls":[],"citing_statements":[{"id":"94bf11e9900f960e","politician_id":"M000133","type":"press_release","content":"Meta settlement comes in part due to violations of Markey’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)\n\nBoston (August 27, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today called on Congress to pass his Children and Teens’ Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) legislation which would update data privacy regulations for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online, as well as his Youth AI Privacy Act, which would require AI companies to build privacy safeguards for minors into their AI chatbots in the wake of the Meta settlement with State Attorneys General to pay $18 billion, including up to $516 million to Massachusetts. Meta is now required to implement various child-safety measures on its platforms.\n\n“Big Tech’s day of reckoning is here. This settlement sends a message every boardroom in Silicon Valley should hear: our children are not collateral damage to bolster Big Tech’s bottom line. I am proud that my original law, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, helped hold Meta accountable, but we cannot stop here. In this emerging age of artificial intelligence, Big Tech is finding more ways to exploit our children’s data and manipulate their emotions for profit, making them and an entire generation sicker. Congress must pass my Youth AI Privacy Act to protect kids using AI chatbots and pass COPPA 2.0 to update my original law. We cannot rely on courts alone to secure strong protections for our kids’ privacy and safety — Congress must act.”\n\nIn August, Senator Markey celebrated the passage of his Youth AI Privacy Act unanimously through the Senate Commerce Committee.\n\nSenator Markey’s COPPA 2.0 passed through the Senate unanimously in March 2026. Senator Markey is the original House author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), passed in 1998.\n\nAlso in March, Senator Markey released a statement after Meta and Google were found liable in a social media addiction lawsuit.\n\n###","url":"https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/following-meta-settlement-markey-calls-on-congress-to-pass-his-coppa-20-legislation-and-the-youth-ai-privacy-act-to-hold-big-tech-accountable-for-childrens-privacy","published_at":"2026-08-27","ai_topics":["privacy","children","regulation"],"ai_stance":"support","ai_summary":"Markey calls on Congress to pass COPPA 2.0 and his Youth AI Privacy Act requiring AI companies to build privacy safeguards for minors into chatbots.","ai_processed":true,"bill_ids":["a4a5a5253240cbbd"],"ai_relevance_score":null,"bill_refs":[{"bill_id":"a4a5a5253240cbbd","method":"title"}],"classifier":null},{"id":"ee5e54434951770b","politician_id":"M000133","type":"press_release","content":"Washington (August 5, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today celebrated the passage of his Youth AI Privacy Act unanimously through the Senate Commerce Committee. This crucial legislation would require AI companies to build safety and privacy safeguards into their chatbots for minors.\n\n“Today’s unanimous committee passage of my Youth AI Privacy Act is a huge step forward for protecting kids’ privacy and safety in the age of AI,” said Senator Markey. “This vote demonstrates bipartisan support for robust privacy safeguards in AI chatbots and sends a clear message that Big Tech must prioritize kids over their bottom line. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Youth AI Privacy Act into law.”\n\nEmerging evidence clearly suggests that minors are especially vulnerable to the harms of AI chatbots, particularly as companies introduce increasingly manipulative design features and rely on large amounts of children’s personal data. The Youth AI Privacy Act would set new privacy standards for these systems, curb the business incentives that drive harmful design choices, and address the ways Big Tech has engineered chatbots to encourage compulsive use among young people.\n\nIn July, Senator Markey announced new support for the legislation, following its initial introduction in March 2026.\n\n###","url":"https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-celebrates-unanimous-committee-passage-of-his-youth-ai-privacy-act","published_at":"2026-08-05","ai_topics":["children","privacy","safety","regulation"],"ai_stance":"support","ai_summary":"The Youth AI Privacy Act would mandate that AI companies build privacy and safety safeguards into chatbots for minors and curb manipulative, compulsive-use design.","ai_processed":true,"bill_ids":["a4a5a5253240cbbd"],"ai_relevance_score":null,"bill_refs":[{"bill_id":"a4a5a5253240cbbd","method":"title"}],"classifier":null},{"id":"a21e5ea76f0e4a1d","politician_id":"C001114","type":"press_release","content":"Video of the Senator’s Committee remarks can be found here, and a transcript is below.\n\nAs we all know, the digital world is changing faster than parents can keep up with it. And our kids are growing up in an online environment that barely existed a few years ago.\n\nMy wife and I raised six children, and we thought it was complicated when we raised them. And now I am expecting my 19th grandchild in a couple of weeks, and I can’t fathom what they have to navigate to get through this environment.\n\nThe bills we advanced today are an important step toward giving families the tools and transparency they need to keep their kids safe.\n\nI want to thank the Chairman, Ranking Member Cantwell, and everyone who worked together in good faith to get us here.\n\nI’m especially proud to be a lead cosponsor of the CHATBOT Act with Chairman Cruz and Senators Schatz and Schiff.\n\nChairman Cruz was collaborative throughout this process and incorporated several ideas Senator Schiff and I advanced in our SAFE KIDS Act.\n\nI’m also proud to partner with Senator Lee on the SCREEN Act and commit to work with him and my other colleagues to advance that to the Senate floor.\n\nWe have to get this right.\n\nThat means protecting children without stifling innovation, empowering parents without leaving them on their own, and writing laws that will still make sense years from now.\n\nBut our work isn’t finished today.\n\nI’m continuing to push to advance bipartisan bills from my colleagues and me to hold platforms accountable for the harm their products create, help users distinguish authentic content from AI slop, and close loopholes that allow youth to access content they shouldn’t see.\n\nParents shouldn’t have to carry this burden alone.\n\nPlatforms have a responsibility, Congress has a responsibility, and we should keep working together to build a safer digital world for our kids.\n\nToday’s votes are meaningful progress, but they’re not the finish line.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Committee passed the Kids Online Safety Act; Youth AI Privacy Act; CHATBOT Act; and Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act of 2026. Included in the CHATBOT Act were several key provisions from Curtis’ bipartisan SAFE KIDS Act, introduced with Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA).\n\nThe provisions adopted from the SAFE KIDS Act include:\n\nRequiring AI chatbots to provide regular, clear disclosures reminding users that they are interacting with artificial intelligence—not a real person;\n\nProhibiting AI chatbot providers from materially assisting a minor in planning or attempting suicide;\n\nProhibiting AI chatbot providers from providing obscene material to minors; and\n\nRequiring AI chatbot providers to notify a parent or guardian, as soon as feasibly possible, if a minor asks about committing suicide, while also directing the minor to external crisis resources.\n\nIn addition, several other priorities championed by Senator Curtis in the SAFE KIDS Act were advanced through Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)’s Youth AI Privacy Act, including:\n\nA prohibition on advertising to children through AI chatbots;\n\nRestrictions preventing companies from processing or transferring children’s data for targeted or behavioral algorithmic purposes; and\n\nWhistleblower protections to encourage employees to report violations and protect those who expose harmful practices.\n\nTogether, these provisions represent significant bipartisan progress toward establishing stronger safeguards for children online, increasing transparency around AI systems, strengthening parental awareness, and protecting young users from harmful or exploitative practices.","url":"https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/committee-advances-curtis-priorities-to-strengthen-online-safety-for-children","published_at":"2026-08-05","ai_topics":["children","safety","regulation","transparency","privacy"],"ai_stance":"support","ai_summary":"Curtis touts committee passage of AI chatbot and kids' AI safety bills requiring disclosures, parental notification, and privacy protections, while saying rules must protect children without stifling innovation.","ai_processed":true,"bill_ids":["a4a5a5253240cbbd","c662dd8495651739","87ac4e58ee5efe4c"],"ai_relevance_score":null,"bill_refs":[{"bill_id":"a4a5a5253240cbbd","method":"title"},{"bill_id":"c662dd8495651739","method":"title"},{"bill_id":"87ac4e58ee5efe4c","method":"title"}],"classifier":null},{"id":"07c8005f2dd6c2bd","politician_id":"M000133","type":"press_release","content":"Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF)\n\nWashington (July 21, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today announced new support for his Youth AI Privacy Act, legislation that would require artificial intelligence (AI) companies to implement privacy safeguards in their AI chatbots. Senator Markey introduced the legislation in March 2026.\n\nIn 2025, approximately two-thirds of teenagers reported using AI chatbots, and roughly a quarter reported using them daily. In a tragic case, a teenager died by suicide after encouragement or advice from an AI chatbot.\n\nThe following organizations are endorsing the Youth AI Privacy Act: Fairplay, Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Common Sense Media, Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Public Knowledge, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Becca Schmill Foundation, Issue One, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, Mothers Against Media Addiction, (MAMA), The Tech Oversight Project, InnovateEDU, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), Transparency Coalition, The National Decency Coalition, All Girls Allowed, The Alliance for Secure AI.\n\n“The new support for my Youth AI Privacy Act sends a clear message to Big Tech: stop exploiting kids through manipulative AI chatbots,” said Senator Markey. “Parents, kids, and families across the country are rightfully demanding strong protections against AI chatbots. My Youth AI Privacy Act answers that call by prohibiting AI companies from using invasive and manipulative design tricks that exploit young people’s emotions and foster dependency on AI chatbots. I look forward to working with my Senate Commerce Committee colleagues to advance this legislation.”\n\n“The Becca Schmill Foundation is proud to endorse Senator Markey's Youth AI Privacy Act. Children and teens deserve strong protections in the age of AI. At a time when young people continue to face growing risks to their privacy and safety, this legislation provides urgently needed safeguards and accountability. We applaud Senator Markey's leadership and urge Congress to pass the Youth AI Privacy Act to help ensure that young people’s rights and well-being come first,” said Deb Schmill, mother of Becca Schmill, forever 18, Founder of the Becca Schmill Foundation.\n\n“AI technology without appropriate safeguards poses a major threat to our children’s mental and physical well-being. We’ve seen far too many young people manipulated, traumatized, or even driven to self-harm or suicide by AI chatbots,” said Julie Scelfo, Founder and Executive Director of Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA). “The Youth AI Privacy Act, which would require AI chatbot companies to incorporate strong privacy and safety features in their products before allowing kids to use them, is a major step in the right direction to keep our children safe online. MAMA members nationwide applaud Senator Markey's commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of America’s children and families and urge the Senate to quickly pass this critical bill.”\n\n“Big Tech turned social media into a machine for harming kids, and now it's doing the same with AI chatbots: mining children’s conversations for data to monetize, profiling their behavior, and designing features to keep them hooked. Senator Markey's bill draws a line in the sand: if you want to put a chatbot in front of a kid, you need to prove you built it safely first. Big Tech companies had every chance to build safe products on their own, but they chose profits instead. Kids have already died because AI products were rushed out without guardrails. Congress waited too long on social media – with the Youth AI Privacy Act, it has the chance to learn from that mistake. Acting now will save lives,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project.\n\n“AI chatbots are designed to capture children's attention and profi","url":"https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/momentum-builds-for-senator-markeys-legislation-to-protect-kids-from-ai-chatbots","published_at":"2026-07-21","ai_topics":["children","privacy","safety","regulation"],"ai_stance":"support","ai_summary":"Markey touts growing endorsements for his Youth AI Privacy Act to bar manipulative AI chatbot design and protect kids' privacy.","ai_processed":true,"bill_ids":["a4a5a5253240cbbd"],"ai_relevance_score":null,"bill_refs":[{"bill_id":"a4a5a5253240cbbd","method":"title"}],"classifier":null}],"provenance":{"commit":"38624a3af16ec6b3fff9b27c7d1d9f2cb7fe9152","generated_at":"2026-09-11T15:06:57.105Z","schema_version":2,"manifest":"https://whovotedwhy.com/data/index.json"}}