Democrat’s Child Online Safety Bill Demands Age Verification

Social media companies would be prohibited from collecting personal information from children under 16 without their consent under new legislation to be introduced Tuesday.

The bill from Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), obtained first by Bloomberg Government, seeks to update a decades-old law, known as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, that currently applies to children younger than 13. The bill would also require online platforms to verify the age of their users.

The new legislation adds to a lengthy list of congressional proposals seeking to crack down on social media companies for allegedly harming their youngest users. Lawmakers on both ...