[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 419 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 419

 To require social media platforms to verify that all individuals who 
 create an account on the platform are age 16 or older, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2023

  Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require social media platforms to verify that all individuals who 
 create an account on the platform are age 16 or older, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Making Age-Verification Technology 
Uniform, Robust, and Effective Act'' or the ``MATURE Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO VERIFY THAT ACCOUNT HOLDERS 
              ARE OF APPROPRIATE AGE.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (c), 
        beginning on the date that is 6 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the operator of a social media platform 
        shall not allow an individual to create an account on the 
        platform unless the individual is age 16 or older, as verified 
        by the platform using an age verification process that meets 
        the requirements specified in paragraph (2).
            (2) Age verification process requirements.--The 
        requirements specified in this paragraph are, with respect to 
        an age verification process and a social media platform, that 
        the platform require any individual who attempts to create an 
        account on the platform to provide the platform with--
                    (A) the individual's full legal name;
                    (B) the individual's date of birth; and
                    (C) a scan, image, or upload of government-issued 
                identification of the individual that verifies the 
                information required under subparagraphs (A) and (B).
    (b) Use of Data Collected for Age Verification Purposes; Deletion 
of Data.--
            (1) In general.--The operator of a social media platform 
        shall not sell, transfer, or use any information collected from 
        an individual for the purpose of verifying the individual's 
        identity and age for any other purpose.
            (2) Deletion of data.--If an account on a social media 
        platform is deleted (whether at the request of the account 
        holder or otherwise), the operator of the social media platform 
        shall delete any information collected from an individual for 
        the purpose of verifying the individual's identity and age not 
        later than 30 days after the date of such deletion.
    (c) Application to Existing Accounts.--The operator of a social 
media platform may continue to allow an individual to maintain and use 
an account on the platform without verifying that the individual is age 
16 or older as required under subsection (a) if--
            (1) the account was created by the individual before the 
        date that is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act; 
        and
            (2) no other individual uses the account.

SEC. 3. FTC COMPLIANCE AUDITS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and not less frequently than every 6 months thereafter, 
the Commission shall conduct an audit of each large social media 
platform by comparing the age verification information associated with 
a randomly selected sample of all accounts created on the platform 
since the last audit was conducted under this section (or, in the case 
of the first audit conducted under this section, since the date that is 
6 months after the date of enactment of this Act) to State and Federal 
records to confirm that the individuals creating such accounts are age 
16 or older.
    (b) Compliance Standards.--An operator of a large social media 
platform shall not be considered to be in violation of the requirements 
of section 2(a) if--
            (1) with respect to the first and second audits conducted 
        under this section, the Commission determines that 90 percent 
        of the accounts reviewed under the audit are accurate and in 
        compliance with the requirements of such section;
            (2) with respect to the third and fourth audits conducted 
        under this section, the Commission determines that 95 percent 
        of the accounts reviewed under the audit are accurate and in 
        compliance with the requirements of such section; and
            (3) with respect to the fifth audit and any subsequent 
        audit conducted under this section, the Commission determines 
        that 100 percent of the accounts reviewed under the audit are 
        accurate and in compliance with the requirements of such 
        section.

SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices.--A violation of section 
2 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or 
deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
    (b) Powers of the Commission.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall enforce section 2 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.
            (2) Privileges and immunities.--Any person who violates 
        section 2 shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the 
        privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 
        Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
            (3) Effect on other laws.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
        construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any 
        other provision of law.
    (c) Private Right of Action.--
            (1) In general.--Any parent or guardian of an individual 
        less than 16 years of age to whom a social media account is 
        provided in violation of this Act may bring a civil action 
        against the social media company in an appropriate district 
        court of the United States or a State court of competent 
        jurisdiction for--
                    (A) injunctive relief;
                    (B) damages; and
                    (C) attorney's fees and costs.
            (2) Application.--Paragraph (1) shall apply to any 
        violation that occurs after the fourth audit described in 
        section 3(b)(2).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (2) Government-issued identification.--The term 
        ``government-issued identification'' means, with respect to an 
        individual, a government-issued document that demonstrates the 
        individual's identity and age, including--
                    (A) a passport or visa;
                    (B) a birth certificate;
                    (C) a driver's license;
                    (D) an identification card issued by a State; or
                    (E) another document determined appropriate by the 
                Commission.
            (3) Social media platform; large social media platform.--
                    (A) Social media platform.--The term ``social media 
                platform'' means any electronic medium, such as 
                Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter (as such 
                services existed in 2023), a live-chat system, or an 
                electronic dating service that--
                            (i) primarily serves as a medium for users 
                        to interact with original content generated by 
                        other third-party users of the medium;
                            (ii) enables users to create accounts or 
                        profiles specific to the medium or to import 
                        profiles from another medium; and
                            (iii) enables 1 or more users to generate 
                        original content that can be viewed by other 
                        third-party users of the medium.
                    (B) Large social media platform.--The term ``large 
                social media platform'' means a social media platform 
                that--
                            (i) averages more than 1,000,000 unique 
                        users on a monthly basis; or
                            (ii) has more than 1,000,000 user accounts.
                    (C) Exclusion.--The term ``social media platform'' 
                shall not include a platform that only permits users to 
                interact via a predetermined set of phrases, emoticons, 
                or nonlinguistic symbols.
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