[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5364 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5364
To provide a private right of action regarding children's exposure to
covered content on apps, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 20, 2024
Mr. Lee introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide a private right of action regarding children's exposure to
covered content on apps, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``App Store
Accountability Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Private right of action.
Sec. 5. Safe harbor for covered app store providers.
Sec. 6. Severability.
Sec. 7. Effective date.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) parents and legal guardians have the right to seek a
remedy when their child is exposed to an app that contains
covered content;
(2) app stores should provide parents and legal guardians
with effective tools to protect children from covered content
on apps, including age verification technology, parental
oversight and consent features, and accurate app age ratings;
and
(3) any tool described in paragraph (2) is not effective if
the tool--
(A) does not empower parents or legal guardians to
protect their child from covered content;
(B) is not readily accessible to parents or legal
guardians; or
(C) is grossly negligent to loopholes that
undermine parents' or legal guardians' ability to
protect their child.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Age category.--The term ``age category'' means the
category of an individual based on their age, including the
following categories:
(A) Adult.--An ``adult'' is such an individual who
has attained 18 years of age.
(B) Teenager.--A ``teenager'' is such an individual
who has attained 16 years of age but has not attained
18 years of age.
(C) Child.--A ``child'' is such an individual who
has attained 13 years of age but has not attained 16
years of age.
(D) Young child.--A ``young child'' is such an
individual who has not attained 13 years of age.
(2) Age rating.--The term ``age rating'' means a public
display that indicates the appropriateness of an app for
different age categories.
(3) App.--The term ``app'' means a software application or
electronic service that may be run or directed by a user on a
computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing
device.
(4) App store.--The term ``app store'' means a publicly
available website, software application, or other electronic
service that distributes and facilitates the download of an app
from a third-party developer by a user of a computer, mobile
device, or any other general purpose computing device.
(5) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(6) Covered app store provider.--The term ``covered app
store provider'' means any person that owns or controls an app
store available in the United States and for which users in the
United States exceed 5,000,000.
(7) Covered content.--The term ``covered content'' means--
(A) any picture, image, graphic image file, film,
videotape, or other visual depiction that--
(i) taken as a whole and with respect to
minors, appeals to a prurient interest in
nudity, sex, or excretion;
(ii) depicts, describes, or represents an
actual or simulated sexual act or sexual
contact, actual or simulated normal or
perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of
the genitals, with the objective intent to
arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual
desires of a person; and
(iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious
literary, artistic, political, or scientific
value as to minors;
(B) any graphic image or video of real or simulated
violence; or
(C) a social or messaging forum whereby a user may
interact directly or indirectly with users that are
minors.
(8) Developer.--The term ``developer'' means any person
that owns or controls an app on the app store of a covered app
store provider and available in the United States.
(9) Injury.--The term ``injury'' means a reasonable,
articulable harm that results from an exposure to covered
content.
(10) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has
not attained 18 years of age.
(11) Mobile device.--The term ``mobile device'' means a
tablet or smart phone that is capable of running a mobile
operating system.
(12) Mobile operating system.--The term ``mobile operating
system'' means a set of software that manages mobile device
hardware resources and provides common services for mobile
device programs.
(13) Parent.--The term ``parent'', with respect to a minor,
means an adult with the legal right to make decisions on behalf
of the minor, including--
(A) a natural parent;
(B) an adoptive parent;
(C) a legal guardian; or
(D) an individual with legal custody over the
minor.
(14) Signal.--The term ``signal'' means age bracketed data
sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or
operating system that is likely to be accessed by minors.
(15) Verifiable parental consent.--The term ``verifiable
parental consent'' means authorization that is provided--
(A) by a parent who a covered app store provider
has verified is an adult;
(B) in response to a disclosure from a covered app
store provider that identifies what is specifically
being consented to, including the age rating for the
app or in-app purchase at issue; and
(C) in response to a clear choice to consent or to
decline to consent to the request from the covered app
store provider.
SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
(a) In General.--Subject to section 5, any parent of a minor
alleging an injury to the minor as a result of exposure to covered
content on an app of a covered app store may bring a civil action
against the covered app store provider in an appropriate district court
of the United States.
(b) Relief.--In a civil action brought under subsection (a) in
which the plaintiff prevails, the court may award--
(1) actual damages;
(2) punitive damages;
(3) reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs; and
(4) any other relief, including equitable or declaratory
relief, that the court determines appropriate.
SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR FOR COVERED APP STORE PROVIDERS.
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (c), no cause of action
shall lie against a covered app store provider under section 4 if the
covered app store provider performs the following activities, as
determined by the Commission in accordance with subsection (b):
(1) Age verification.--Determine the age category for each
individual in the United States that uses the app store of such
provider and verify such individual's age using commercially
reasonable methods.
(2) Parental oversight of app store usage.--Obtain
verifiable parental consent prior to allowing a minor to use
the app store of such provider, including by providing a
mechanism for a parent to block a minor from downloading any
app that is not suitable for the age category of the minor.
(3) Parental oversight of app downloads.--Obtain verifiable
parental consent, on a download-by-download basis, prior to
allowing a minor to download an app from the app store of such
provider, including by providing an easily accessible mechanism
for a parent to consent to the download of an app.
(4) Parental oversight of app purchases.--Obtain verifiable
parental consent, on a purchase-by-purchase basis, prior to
allowing a minor to purchase any app through the app store of
such provider, and such consent shall be valid for up to 7
days.
(5) Parental oversight of in-app purchases.--Obtain
verifiable parental consent, on a purchase-by-purchase basis,
prior to allowing a minor to make an in-app purchase through
the app store of such provider.
(6) Parental oversight of app usage.--With respect to any
covered app store provider that owns or controls a mobile
device's mobile operating system, to the extent practicable,
provide to parents a clear and easy mechanism to set--
(A) filters that prevent a minor from accessing any
adult website on the web browser of the mobile device;
and
(B) usage limits, including daily limits and
limitations during school and evening hours.
(7) App age rating display.--To the extent the covered app
store provider displays age ratings or descriptions of content,
clearly and prominently display the age rating or description
of content for each app available in the app store of the
provider, including information regarding the minimum age
category suitable for usage of an app.
(8) Age category signal to developers.--Provide to
developers the ability to determine, in real time, the age
category of any user and, with respect to any user that is a
minor, whether the covered app store provider has obtained
verifiable parental consent in accordance with this section.
(9) Developer standards.--Certify that any developer of an
app on the covered app store performs the following activities,
and remove any developer or app from the covered app store that
fails to perform such activities or sells age category data for
any reason:
(A) App age rating.--To the extent that a developer
provides age ratings or descriptions of content to
users, the developer shall--
(i) clearly provide to a user the
description of content and clearly identify the
age category eligible for usage of an app; and
(ii) provide such information to each app
store available in the United States.
(B) Parental oversight of app usage.--To the extent
technically feasible, the developer shall use the
application programming interface of a covered app
store provider to verify--
(i) the age category of its users; and
(ii) in the case of a minor, whether
verifiable parental consent has been obtained
before allowing the use of the app or in-app
purchases.
(C) Time restrictions.--The developer shall provide
readily available features for a parent to implement
time restrictions with respect to the app of such
developer, including the ability to view metrics
reflecting the amount of time that a minor is using the
app and set daily time limits on a minor's use of such
app.
(D) Use of app store provider signal.--Each
developer shall use a covered app store provider's
signal to determine the age category of a user.
(b) Determination of Eligibility.--
(1) In general.--Upon request by a covered app store
provider, in such form and manner as the Commission shall
prescribe, the Commission shall--
(A) review the policies of the provider that are
relevant to the requirements described in subsection
(a) to determine whether the provider is eligible for
the safe harbor described in such subsection; and
(B) not later than 30 days after receiving such
request, submit to Congress and make publicly available
a notice confirming the safe harbor eligibility of the
provider if the Commission determines that the
provider--
(i) meets the requirements described in
subsection (a); and
(ii) does not permit, or quickly remedies,
any method of circumventing the protections
described in such subsection.
(2) Updates to policies.--In the event that a covered app
store provider updates any policy that is relevant to the
requirements described in subsection (a), the provider shall
notify the Commission of such update to ensure that such update
does not impact the safe harbor eligibility of the provider
under paragraph (1).
(3) Complaints.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall
establish a mechanism to receive complaints regarding
the compliance of any covered app store provider
determined to be eligible for safe harbor under
paragraph (1) with the requirements described in
subsection (a).
(B) Review.--The Commission shall regularly review
any complaints received through such mechanism and, if
necessary, evaluate the relevant provider's continued
eligibility for safe harbor.
(4) Period of eligibility.--The Commission's determination
of safe harbor eligibility with respect to a covered app store
provider shall be valid for 1 year.
(5) Congressional review.--Each determination of
eligibility made by the Commission under paragraph (1) shall be
considered an agency rule subject to chapter 8 of title 5,
United States Code, for purposes of a joint resolution of
disapproval, except that--
(A) the 60-day period for filing a joint resolution
under section 802(a) of such title shall not apply; and
(B) a joint resolution of disapproval may contain
one or more such agency rules described in paragraph
(1).
(c) Disqualifying Activity.--The safe harbor described in
subsection (a) shall not apply if the Commission determines that the
covered app store provider--
(1) sells age category data for any reason; or
(2) acts in a manner contrary to the sense of Congress
described in section 2.
(d) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed--
(1) to prevent a covered app store provider from taking
reasonable measures to block, detect, or prevent the
distribution of unlawful, obscene, or other harmful material to
minors, to block or filter spam, to prevent criminal activity,
or to protect the security of an app store or app;
(2) to require a covered app store provider to disclose to
a developer any information about a user other than such user's
age category and, with respect to any user that is a minor,
whether the covered app store provider has obtained verifiable
parental consent in accordance with this section;
(3) to allow a covered app store provider to use any
measures required by this section in a way that is arbitrary,
capricious, anti-competitive, or unlawful; or
(4) to affect or restrict the expression of political,
religious, or other viewpoints.
SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any
person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, and
the application of such provision to other persons not similarly
situated or to other circumstances, shall not be affected by the
invalidation.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act shall take
effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
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