Comments Ahead of the Senate Commerce Committee Markup on Children's Online Safety

Dear Chairman Cruz and Ranking Member Cantwell:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ("Chamber") appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on legislation being considered by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to protect children and teens online. The Chamber shares the Committee's goal of promoting a safer online environment for young people while preserving access to the innovative tools, services, and information that benefit families, consumers, and businesses.

The Chamber believes the strongest and most durable approach is comprehensive federal privacy legislation that establishes one clear national standard. The SECURE Data Act would provide meaningful privacy protections for children, teens, and all Americans, including rights to delete and correct personal information, opt out of certain targeted advertising, and receive protections related to certain automated decision-making. A national framework would also provide businesses with the certainty needed to comply consistently and invest in responsible data practices.

As the Committee considers child- and teen-specific legislation, we encourage members to advance policies that are targeted, clear, legally durable, and workable. We believe these bills can be strengthened by ensuring that their requirements are technologically feasible, appropriately scoped, and enforceable in a consistent manner. In particular:

• Legislative efforts can shield children and teens from obscene and harmful content.

• Knowledge standards for covered content should be clear and appropriately scoped to avoid unintended effects on protected and lawful content.

• Obligations and restrictions for providers of content and online services should be objective and clear, allowing businesses to understand their responsibilities and regulators to enforce the law consistently.

• Enforcement should remain with expert public agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, rather than relying on private lawsuits that can create inconsistent outcomes and divert resources from compliance and consumer protection. Unclear standards and duties for content providers and platforms also encourage litigation in state and federal courts as well.

• Online privacy and content protection legislation should create a single national standard and not allow for a patchwork of legislation that disincentivizes small business from adopting technology.

Children and teens deserve meaningful online protections, and parents need tools to help address harms that can occur online. At the same time, legislation in this area should preserve the benefits of emerging technology, provide clear rules of the road, and avoid unintended consequences for lawful content, responsible businesses, and consumers.

The Chamber stands ready to work with you to advance legislation that protects young people, promotes trust, and provides a workable national framework for businesses of all sizes. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact [email protected].

Sincerely,

Jordan Crenshaw

Senior Vice President

Chamber Technology Engagement Center

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

CC: Members of the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation

1. ^

   https://www.commerce.senate.gov/meetings/executive-session-24-08-05-2026/

2. ^

   https://www.uschamber.com/assets/documents/US-Chamber-Statement-for-Record-SECURE-Data-Act.pdf