Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important step forward to protect our kids online. I really arrived here more as a parent than a Member of Congress, watching two daughters grow up at a time when the internet and social media was evolving, and I just understood from a very personal level what was happening.

Being here in Congress, listening to parents whose children had suffered online harms, whether that was suicide or cyberbullying, the evidence really is overwhelming now about the online risks and the physical and mental harms suffered by kids.

Over 40 percent of kids under 12 are exposed to inappropriate material within their first month on social media: cyberbullying and violent and graphic content.

Excessive screen time is linked to significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression among teens. Those spending 4 or more hours online daily are more than twice as likely to report symptoms of both.

My colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee and I have spent many Congresses--a number of Congresses--working with advocacy groups and parents about the best way to combat the harms experienced by young people online.

The underlying record is replete with evidence from psychologists, pediatricians, and teachers about the impact that Big Tech has on our kids. I have submitted their stories, reports, and research for the Record as we update the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a law that is outdated, that now will cover teens and provide much greater safety and privacy for young people.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record all of these stories and everything by reference here today. This includes the testimonies, coalition letters, and advisory from the Surgeon General, all showing that compulsive social media use is harmful to the health of our kids. The documents can be found at the following links: Anxious Generation: The Evidence (2026) https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/research/the- evidence; Master Complaint in Meta Lawsuit (2025) https:// www.motleyrice.com/sites/default/files/documents/Less-Redacted-Omnibus- Opposition-Brief.pdf; Pew Research Center Report: Teens, Social Media and Mental Health (2025) https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/ uploads/sites/20/2025/04/PI_2025.04.22_teens-social-media-mental- health_REPORT.pdf; Fairplay: Teen Accounts: Broken Promises, How Instagram is Failing to Protect Minors (2025) https:// fairplayforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Teen-Accounts-Broken- Promises-How-Instagram-is-failing-to-protect-minors.pdf; FTC Report: A Look Behind the Screens, Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services (2024); https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ ftc_gov/pdf/Social-Media-6b-Report-9-911-2024.pdf; U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health (2023) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594761/pdf/ Bookshelf_NBK594761.pdf; American Psychological Association: Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence (2023) https://www.apa.org/ topics/social-media-internet/health-advisory-adolescent-social-media- use.pdf

As digital threats evolve, so must our laws. The bipartisan KIDS Act before us today responds to these realities with strong, commonsense safeguards.

This has been a long time coming, and I really thank Chairman Guthrie for bringing it in for a landing. My good friend, Chairman Gus Bilirakis, and I have worked on KOSA. I appreciate the support from my allies on privacy, Representative Walberg and now Representative Lee who came on this Congress.

I appreciate the work of Ranking Member Pallone, Representative Trahan, and the professional staff who really listened to the parents. I know it is not the be all-end all, and they have my commitment to keep pressing for the strongest privacy protections and design code protections.

I hope the Senate adopts a very strong bill. It is there. The ball is going to be in their court now after the House passes the KIDS Act today, but this is an important step for kids, parents, and families in America. How do we keep up with the technological innovations? How do we keep up with what Big Tech wants to do to monetize children's time online? They deserve the protections here today. They deserve this strong step forward, and I again thank my colleagues and urge a strong ``yes'' vote.

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