Sammy’s Law
Key claim: Sammy’s Law would require large social media platforms to provide mechanisms for FTC-registered safety software providers to monitor and manage children’s accounts and access their data in order to protect minors from harms such as suicide, eating disorders, and sexual abuse.
Abstract
(HR2657 · 119th Congress) Sammy’s Law This bill requires large social media platforms to permit certain providers of safety software to monitor and manage the activity of children under the age of 17 on such platforms. Specifically, large social media platforms must make available a mechanism by which a child or their parent or guardian may permit a provider of safety software to (1) manage the child’s interactions, content, and account settings on the platform; and (2) regularly access the child’s user data. A software provider may only disclose a child’s data under limited circumstances, including to the child’s parent or guardian if the child is experiencing or is at foreseeable risk of experiencing specified harms. Such harms include suicide, eating disorders, sexual abuse, harassment, and academic dishonesty. The provider may only share data necessary for a reasonable parent or caregiver to understand that the child is experiencing or is at risk of harm. To participate, a software provider must register with the Federal Trade Commission, undergo a security review, and demonstrate that, among other requirements, the provider is based in the United States and will use a child’s data solely to protect them from harm. Under the bill, a large social media platform is generally a service that enables a child to share content through the internet with other users that the child has become aware of solely through the platform, and which has more than 100 million monthly global active users or generates more than $1 billion in gross annual revenue. Latest action (2025-12-11): Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
Why this matters
Sammy’s Law would introduce a novel regulatory pathway in which the federal government licenses third-party safety vendors and compels platforms to grant them programmatic access to minors’ accounts, shifting some monitoring authority from platforms to parents and their chosen tools. For affected groups — minors, parents, and safety-tech providers — the practical effect depends heavily on FTC vetting standards and privacy safeguards, raising civil-rights tensions between child protection and youth privacy/autonomy.