Kids Online Safety Act, Sec. 13 ("Filter Bubble Transparency Requirements")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Compromise of privacy
• Pollution of information ecosystem
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Loss of human agency and autonomy

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has good coverage of approximately 4-5 subdomains, with strong focus on privacy compromise (2.1), information pollution and filter bubbles (3.2), lack of transparency (7.4), and loss of human agency (5.2). Coverage is concentrated in privacy, misinformation ecosystem, and AI system transparency domains.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Information

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Scientific Research & Development Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs the Information sector, specifically internet platforms, social media, search engines, and content aggregation services. It applies to organizations that operate public-facing digital platforms using algorithmic ranking systems.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative provision from the U.S. Congress with mandatory requirements, explicit enforcement mechanisms through the Federal Trade Commission, and penalties for non-compliance.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is identified as a section of legislation from the United States Congress, which is the legislative body that proposed and drafted this governance instrument.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Deployer
• Entities: Covered internet platforms (public-facing websites, internet applications, mobile applications, social network sites, video sharing services, search engines, content aggregation services); Upstream providers in search syndication contracts; Downstream providers in search syndication contracts
• Summary: The document explicitly targets operators of covered internet platforms that use algorithmic ranking systems, as well as upstream and downstream providers in search syndication contracts. These entities deploy AI systems (algorithmic ranking systems) to end users.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Federal Trade Commission
• Summary: The document explicitly designates the Federal Trade Commission as the enforcement body with authority to enforce compliance, impose penalties, and exercise jurisdiction over violations.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Federal Trade Commission
• Summary: The Federal Trade Commission is granted monitoring and oversight authority through its enforcement powers, which include the ability to investigate compliance and assess adherence to the requirements.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Collect and Process Data
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily focuses on the Deploy and Operate and Monitor stages of the AI lifecycle. It mandates specific deployment requirements for algorithmic ranking systems (providing input-transparent alternatives) and ongoing operational transparency obligations (regular updates to terms and conditions, user notifications).

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Systems
• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly addresses algorithmic ranking systems and AI systems used by internet platforms. It does not specifically mention frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, or compute thresholds. The focus is on algorithmic systems that rank, select, or prioritize content for users.