Lawmakers, advocates press for COPPA updates, Kids Online Safety Act and App Store rules to bolster parental control

Witnesses at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing recommended multiple, complementary laws to reduce children’s exposure to harmful content and the addictive design choices that amplify it.

Why it matters: Panelists said parental tools alone are insufficient. They urged layered protections—age verification, app‑store parental consent, app design obligations, and updated COPPA definitions—to address the collective and algorithmic harms children face online.

Claire Morrell, Ethics and Public Policy Center, argued social media is a harmful environment for children and recommended raising the default age for social media access and requiring parental involvement for account creation. "Parents are not part of that process," she said; the current ecosystem lets minors register and contract with apps without parents’ knowledge.

Witnesses urged modernizing COPPA so protections do not stop at 13. Dawn Hawkins and others testified that the statutory “digital adult” effect leaves teens exposed at the age most targeted by predators and by design choices that prioritize engagement over safety. They recommended that COPPA updates and COSA be coordinated so that privacy, design, and parental consent work together.

On app stores, members and witnesses supported the App Store Accountability Act concept: put verifiable age checks and parental consent at the point of download, not solely on individual app developers. Representative Jay Obernolte and others said app stores can enforce age gating and purchase controls more effectively than dispersed, often nonprofessional developers.

Implementation issues: Panelists and members debated legal and technical tradeoffs—how to verify age without eroding privacy, how to balance consumer protection with First Amendment constraints, and how to make parental controls usable. Supporters said legislation can be designed narrowly to avoid constitutional problems while restoring parental oversight and creating consistent liability for products designed to harm children.

Ending: Lawmakers from both parties pledged to continue negotiating text and to prioritize passage this term; witnesses offered to assist in drafting operational provisions for age assurance, parental consent, and safety‑by‑design.