Initiative To Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety & Privacy Online, 67733-67739 [2023-21606]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67733-67739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21606]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 230926-0233]
RIN 0660-XC059


Initiative To Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety & Privacy 
Online

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Preventing and mitigating any adverse health effects from use 
of online platforms on minors, while preserving benefits such platforms 
have on minors' health and well-being, are critical priorities of the 
Biden-Harris Administration. On behalf of the Department of Commerce 
and in conjunction with the other members of the United States 
government's Task Force on Kids Online Health & Safety, the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeks broad 
input and feedback from stakeholders on current and emerging risks of 
health (including mental health), safety, and privacy harms to minors 
arising from use of online platforms. This request also seeks 
information about potential health, safety and privacy benefits 
stemming from minors' use of online platforms. Finally, we seek input 
on current and future industry efforts to mitigate harms and promote 
the health, safety and well-being of minors who access these online 
platforms. The data gathered through this process will be used to 
inform the Biden-Harris Administration's work to advance the health, 
safety, and privacy of minors.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 16, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: All electronic public comments on this action, identified by 
Regulations.gov docket number NTIA-2023-0008, may be submitted through 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. The 
docket established for this request for comment can be found at 
www.Regulations.gov, NTIA-2023-0008. To make a submission, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments. Additional instructions can be found in the 
``Instructions'' section below after ``Supplementary Information.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please direct questions regarding this 
Request for Comment to Kids Online team at [email protected] with ``Kids 
Online Request for Comment'' in the subject line. If submitting 
comments by U.S. mail, please address questions to Ruth Yodaiken, 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230. Questions submitted via telephone should be directed to (202)-
482-4067. Please direct media inquiries to NTIA's Office of Public 
Affairs, telephone: (202) 482-7002; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Authority

    On May 23, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced several 
key actions to protect the health, safety, and privacy of young people 
online, including the formation of an interagency Kids Online Health 
and Safety Task Force (Task Force).\1\ The Task Force was developed 
primarily in response to concerns about the role that online platforms 
have in the ``unprecedented youth mental health crisis'' in the United 
States today.\2\
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    \1\ White House, Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration 
Announces Actions to Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety & Privacy 
Online, The White House, (White House Fact Sheet) (May 23, 
2023).https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/23/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-actions-to-protect-youth-mental-health-safety-privacy-online.
    \2\ Id.
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    In order to address health and safety concerns related to minors 
and the online environment, the Task Force will ``review the status of 
existing industry efforts and technologies to promote the health and 
safety of children and

[[Page 67734]]

teenagers vis-[agrave]-vis their online activities, particularly with 
respect to their engagement in social media and other online 
platforms.'' \3\ The Task Force is further charged with developing 
voluntary guidance, policy recommendations, and a toolkit on safety-, 
health- and privacy-by-design for industry in developing digital 
products and services.
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    \3\ Id. For the purposes of this Request for Comment, the term 
``social media'' and ``online platforms'' encompass a wide array of 
modern technology from video sharing networks, such as TikTok, 
Twitch and YouTube, to social networks such as Facebook, Instagram. 
It includes the many gaming networks in addition to Twitch, such as 
Discord, Roblox and Xbox, which allow individuals to interact with 
each other through, and adjacent to, games.
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    The Task Force is led by the Department of Health and Human 
Services in close partnership with the Department of Commerce, through 
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). 
It is comprised of senior representatives from the Department of 
Education, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland 
Security, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, the Office of the Surgeon General, the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of 
Health, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Office of 
the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, and the White House 
Domestic Policy Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, the 
National Economic Council, and the Gender Policy Council.
    In announcing the Task Force, the Administration referred to 
existing research and reports from news and medical sources, including 
an American Psychiatric Association poll finding that ``[m]ore than 
half of parents express concern over their children's mental well-
being.'' \4\ The Administration cited ``undeniable evidence that social 
media and other online platforms have contributed to our youth mental 
health crisis.'' \5\
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    \4\ American Psychiatric Association, New APA Poll Shows 
Sustained Anxiety Among Americans; More than Half of Parents are 
Concerned About the Mental Well-Being of Their Children (May 2, 
2021), https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/new-apa-poll-shows-sustained-anxiety-among-americans-more-than-half-of-parents-are-concerned-about-the-mental-well-being-of-their-children.
    \5\ White House Fact Sheet.
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    Concurrently, the Surgeon General of the United States issued an 
Advisory that labeled the potential harm to American youth stemming 
from use of online platforms an ``urgent public health issue,'' citing 
``increasing concerns among researchers, parents and caregivers, young 
people, healthcare experts, and others about the impact of social media 
on youth mental health,'' \6\ and called for action by, among others, 
technology and online service providers.\7\ Moreover, there is growing 
consensus about the need to fund research to more fully understand the 
complexity of the overall impact of social media, and technology use 
more generally on youth mental health and socio-emotional and cognitive 
development, including differential impacts by developmental stage and 
on certain populations of youth. Social media and other online 
platforms are nearly ubiquitous, and minors spend substantial amounts 
of time using them. Yet, technology and online service providers' 
practices, such as design choices and policies regarding data access, 
have remained opaque to varying degrees, leaving the scientific 
community unable to fully understand the scope and scale of the impact 
that social media and other online platforms have had, and continue to 
have, on youth mental health and well-being.\8\ As the Surgeon General 
stated, action is needed now: ``[C]hildren and adolescents don't have 
the luxury of waiting years until we know the full extent of social 
media's impact. Their childhoods and development are happening now.'' 
\9\
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    \6\ Dept. Of Health and Human Services, Social Media and Youth 
Mental Health--Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General 
(Advisory) (May 23, 2023), at 3-4, https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-mental-health/social-media/.
    \7\ Advisory at 13 -20.
    \8\ See Dept. of Health and Human Services, Social Media and 
Youth Mental health: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory (Executive 
Summary) (2023), https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-summary.pdf.
    \9\ Advisory at 13.
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1. Health, Safety and Privacy: Specific Areas of Concern

    Minors' use of social media and other online platforms have 
produced an evolving and broad set of concerns, touching on, among 
other things, health, safety, and privacy. \10\ These concerns include 
impacts upon mental health, brain development, attention span, sleep, 
addiction, anxiety, and depression.\11\ These concerns stem from both 
the design of the social media environment and the specific types of 
content to which minors are exposed, often repeatedly over long periods 
of time. Exposure to self-harming and suicide-related content, for 
example, have been linked in some cases to deaths of minors.\12\ Some 
online material appears to disproportionately affect subgroups of 
youth, including racial, ethnic, sexual and gender groups. For example, 
evidence shows that such sustained and high volume exposure to online 
materials negatively affect girls' self-esteem and body images.\13\ 
Safety is also an area of concern related to use of online platforms, 
particularly the risk of predators targeting minors online for 
physical, psychological, and other forms of abuse, including sexual 
exploitation, extortion (or sextortion) \14\ and cyberbullying.\15\ 
Adult and children frequently use the same online platforms, 
particularly social media platforms, and that enables adults to readily 
engage children who are ill-equipped to understand the adults' 
intentions. Parents and guardians, who are called upon to regulate 
their children's use of online platforms, are often provided little to 
no information about these potential harms. Minors similarly lack the 
necessary information.
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    \10\ The terms ``minors'' and ``youths'' are used in this 
document to describe people under 18 years of age.
    \11\ See generally, Advisory.
    \12\ See, e.g., Advisory at 8-9; Southern District of Indiana 
[verbar] FBI and Partners Issue National Public Safety Alert on 
Sextortion Schemes, Department of Justice, (Jan. 19, 2023), https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/fbi-and-partners-issue-national-public-safety-alert-sextortion-schemes
    \13\ See, e.g., Advisory at 8 (noting the issue of social 
comparison).
    \14\ See, e.g., Federal Bureau of Investigation, International 
Law Enforcement Agencies Issue Joint Warning About Global Financial 
Sextortion Crisis, Press Release, (Feb. 7, 2023), https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/international-law-enforcement-agencies-issue-joint-warning-about-global-financial-sextortion-crisis.
    \15\ See, generally, StopBullying.gov, What Is Cyberbullying, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it; Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, Adolescent and School Health: Data & 
Statistics, https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/index.htm.
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    Social media and other online platforms also pose risks to minors 
of infringements on privacy, with concerns focused on the particularly 
sensitive nature of images and other personally identifiable 
information such as educational records, including misuse, minors' 
vulnerability to harms from those with access to such information, and, 
more generally, minors' exposure to comprehensive surveillance.\16\ 
Concerns regarding minors' privacy are exacerbated by the rise of data 
analytics and tracking tools that collect and make use of large 
quantities of personal data,

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often along with offering free or reduced-cost access to online 
services.\17\ Youth are among those most affected by the state of the 
industry and can be targeted specifically.\18\ In addition, as noted 
above, data -- especially if not secured properly--can be misused by 
predators for criminal or other purposes. Ongoing developments in 
communications and information-processing technologies, including rapid 
advances in artificial intelligence capabilities and use, might produce 
new risks to minors' privacy, health and safety. For example, earlier 
this year, there were many news reports about an AI-powered chatbot 
that gave out what seemed to be harmful advice in response to inquiries 
about getting help for eating disorders.\19\
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    \16\ See, e.g., Advisory at 9; National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, Comments of NTIA Regarding Commercial 
Surveillance ANPR R1104 Before the Federal Trade Commission, FTC 
Docket 2022-0053, at 14-16, 20-21, https://ntia.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ftc_commercial_surveillance_anpr_ntia_comment_final.pdf.
    \17\ See, e.g., Federal Trade Commission, Commercial 
Surveillance and Data Security Rulemaking, https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/commercial-surveillance-data-security-rulemaking (providing links to the 
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in that area and related 
material). For information about how design has been used to 
manipulate content generally, including to keep people engaged 
online and to influence online decisions, see, e.g., Arunesh Mathur, 
et al., Dark Patterns at Scale: Findings from a Crawl of 11K 
Shopping websites, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer 
Interaction, Vol 3, Issue CSCW, Article No.: 81 (Sept. 20, 2019), 
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3359183.
    \18\ See, e.g., Statement of Frances Haugen, United States 
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, (Oct. 4, 
2021), https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/FC8A558E-824E-4914-BEDB-3A7B1190BD49; See, also, Federal Trade Commission Proposes 
Blanket Prohibition Preventing Facebook from Monetizing Youth Data, 
Press Release (May 3, 2023), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-proposes-blanket-prohibition-preventing-facebook-monetizing-youth-data (regarding FTC changes to a privacy 
order with Facebook after alleged violations).
    \19\ See, e.g., Lauren McCarthy, A Wellness Chatbot is Offline 
After its `Harmful'' Focus on Weight Loss, The New York Times (June. 
8, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/us/ai-chatbot-tessa-eating-disorders-association.html?smid=url-share; Center for 
Countering Digital Hate, AI and Eating Disorders: How Generative AI 
Enables and Promotes Harmful Eating Disorder Content (Aug. 7, 2023), 
https://counterhate.com/research/ai-tools-and-eating-disorders.
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2. Benefits

    While social media and other online platforms pose risks to minors, 
these offerings also can facilitate and provide immense benefits for 
minors. The Biden Administration, through NTIA and other agencies, is 
engaged in an historic initiative to bring robust and affordable 
internet access to all Americans. This project will allow greater youth 
participation in the modern digital economy, open access to increased 
digital learning opportunities and after-school activities, broaden 
access to health care (including telehealth), enhance civic engagement, 
help students participate in a wide range of activities, and more.\20\ 
Health or other benefits that social media and related platforms offer 
to many youth include, for example, creating space for self-expression, 
developing and sustaining social connections, providing skill-building 
opportunities and buffering against negative conduct and speech, and 
providing online emergency services.\21\ The Surgeon General's Advisory 
noted that access to online platforms is ``especially important for 
youth who are often marginalized, including racial, ethnic, and sexual 
and gender minorities.'' \22\
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    \20\ More on this topic can be found on the NTIA web page on 
High-Speed internet, https://www.ntia.gov/category/high-speed-internet.
    \21\ See, e.g., Advisory at 6.
    \22\ See, e.g., id.; see also Common Sense Media, Teens and 
Mental Health: How Girls Really Feel About Social Media (Mar 30, 
2023), https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/how-girls-really-feel-about-social-media-researchreport_web_final_2.pdf.
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3. Efforts To Assess and Address Risks, and Mitigate Harms

    The Task Force is charged with exploring ways to assess and address 
risks and harms to minors online. Among other things, the Task Force 
will evaluate how best to harness technology for these purposes and 
will consider best practices for social media and online platforms and 
their use.\23\ For many years, individuals and organizations around the 
globe have been working to identify specific risks and harms posed by 
evolving technologies and to explore methods and mechanisms to mitigate 
such harms.\24\ Congress has been exploring these issues through 
hearings and legislative proposals.\25\ Similarly, legislators in 
states, such as California and Texas, have been adopting measures to 
try to spur changes among social media and other companies.\26\ 
Provisions being explored include the use of default settings, adoption 
of particular privacy features, and further use of age gates (limiting 
access by age).
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    \23\ White House Fact Sheet (``Children are subject to the 
platforms' excessive data collection, which they use to deliver 
sensational and harmful content and troves of paid advertising. And 
online platforms often use manipulative design techniques embedded 
in their products to promote addictive and compulsive use by young 
people to generate more revenue. Social media use in schools is 
affecting students' mental health and disrupting learning. Advances 
in artificial intelligence could make these harms far worse, 
especially if not developed and deployed responsibly. Far too often, 
online platforms do not protect minors who use their products and 
services, even when alerted to the abuses experienced online.'').
    \24\ See, e.g., Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and 
Technology 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022.
    \25\ See, e.g., Kids Online Safety Act, S. 1409, 118th Cong. 
(2023), as amended and posted by the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation on July 27, 2023; see, also, Time 
Change: Protecting Our Children Online, Hearing Before the Senate 
Committee on the Judiciary (Feb. 14, 2023), https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/protecting-our-children-online; Kids Online During COVID: Child Safety in an 
Increasingly Digital Age, Hearing Before the House of 
Representatives Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce 
(Committee on Energy and Commerce), (Mar. 11, 2021), https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=111298.
    \26\ See, e.g., California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, AB 
2273 (2022), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2273; Securing Children 
Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, H.B. 18 (2023).
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    Many agencies represented on the Task Force have taken actions 
designed to advance minors' interests to protect their health, safety 
and privacy online. The Department of Commerce is working to ``promote 
efforts to prevent online harassment and abuse'' of youth by increasing 
awareness and support for youth victims, among other efforts.\27\ While 
not targeted at youth, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology has worked with industry to improve ID verification and 
authentication that might be relevant to age verification.\28\ The 
Federal Trade Commission, which enforces the Childrens Online Privacy 
Protection Act (COPPA), is assessing data surveillance practices both 
generally and with specific regard to minors.\29\ The Department of 
Education, which enforces the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act 
(FERPA), is pursuing initiatives focused on privacy of students using 
digital technology for education.\30\ The Department of Justice

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and the Department of Homeland Security are working to enhance their 
efforts to, among other things, (i) identify and prosecute those who 
sexually exploit children online, (ii) identify, rescue, and provide 
support to children who have been sexually victimized, (iii) provide 
some transparency and accountability concerning the online harms 
children face every day, and (iv) undertake education and prevention 
efforts to help children avoid becoming victims of sexual exploitation. 
\31\ The National Institutes of Health, in accordance with the CAMRA 
Act, supports biomedical and behavioral science research to study the 
health impacts of digital media exposure on youth, which may include 
the positive and negative effects of exposure to and use of media, 
(such as social media, applications, websites), to better understand 
the relationships between media and technology use and individual 
differences and characteristics of children and to assess the impact of 
media on youth over time.\32\
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    \27\ White House Fact Sheet.
    \28\ See, e.g., National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
Digital Identity Guidelines, Initial Public Draft SP 800-63-4 (Dec. 
16, 2022), https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/63/4/ipd.
    \29\ See, e.g., Federal Trade Commission, Trade Regulation Rule 
on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security; Advance Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Public Comment, Public Forum, 87 FR 
51273 (Aug. 22, 2022), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/08/22/2022-17752/trade-regulation-rule-on-commercial-surveillance-and-data-security; Federal Trade Commission, FTC Seeks 
Comments on Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, Press 
Release (July 25, 2019), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/07/ftc-seeks-comments-childrens-online-privacy-protection-act-rule; Federal Trade Commission, FTC Extends Deadline 
for Comments on COPPA Rule until December 11, Press Release (Dec. 9, 
2019), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/12/ftc-extends-deadline-comments-coppa-rule-until-december-11.
    \30\ White House Fact Sheet (noting also that ``[s]ocial media 
use in schools is affecting students' mental health and disrupting 
learning''); see also The Washington Post, Students Can't Get Off 
Their Phones. Schools Have Had Enough: Administrators See Them As an 
Intensifying Distraction -- Or, Worse, a Tax on Students' Mental 
Health, (May 9, 2023), https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/09/school-cellphone-ban-yondr).
    \31\ White House Fact Sheet (highlighting DOJ and DHS effort 
with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)).
    \32\ H.R.2161--117th Congress (2021-2022): CAMRA Act, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2161/text?r=16&s=1; 
Senators Markey, Bipartisan Colleagues Celebrate Passage of CAMRA 
Act to Fund Research on Impact of Tech on Childhood Development 
(senate.gov), https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-bipartisan-colleagues-celebrate-passage-of-camra-act-to-fund-research-on-impact-of-tech-on-childhood-development
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    All around the world, nation-states, civil society organizations, 
and researchers are working to determine how best to keep children and 
teens safe while maximizing the benefits of social media and other 
online platforms.\33\ For example, the United Kingdom's age-appropriate 
design codes incorporate such elements as prohibiting the use of 
techniques to manipulate minors into agreeing to give up some 
privacy.\34\ Parents, guardians, caregivers and advocates for youth 
have taken up the mantle.\35\ In addition, researchers across a range 
of disciplines have identified methods and approaches to embedding and 
respecting societal values through the design, deployment, 
configuration, and regulation of technical systems.\36\ In particular, 
researchers developed methods and tools to identify and define such 
values and account for potential harms, including physical and mental 
health concerns arising from design choices, and those efforts are 
relevant to children's wellbeing.\37\ Businesses and associations, 
including those in the technology sector, have taken some steps to 
assess and address these problems.\38\ For example, as the UK's age-
appropriate design laws took effect, TikTok turned off nighttime 
notifications for children.\39\ Other companies offer age-verification 
tools, parental controls,\40\ and/or guidance for parents and guardians 
seeking to protect minors online.\41\ YouTube offers a separate 
application for children under 13, which allows parents to limit 
minors' screen time and disable some search capabilities.\42\ Industry 
can, however, do more to protect American children and teens online. 
Reports and recommendations focused on youth social media and online 
platforms often include recommendations for the tech sector.\43\ The 
Surgeon General's Advisory included requests for more access to tech 
companies' data for health research and urged these companies to 
develop ``platforms, products, and tools that foster safe and healthy 
online environments for youth, keeping in mind the needs of girls, 
racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minorities.'' \44\
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    \33\ See, e.g., (European Union) Digital Services Act, 
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending 
Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act), Oct. 19, 2022), 
(including prohibitions on targeted adverts to children), https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-services-act-ensuring-safe-and-accountable-online-environment_en; (UK) Information Commissioner's 
Office, Age Appropriate Design: A Code of Practice for Online 
Services, https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/childrens-information/childrens-code-guidance-and-resources/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online-services/executive-summary.
    \34\ See, (UK) Information Commissioner's Office, Age 
Appropriate Design: A Code of Practice for Online Services, Code 
Standards, # 13, Nudge Techniques (``Do not use nudge techniques to 
lead or encourage children to provide unnecessary personal data or 
weaken or turn off their privacy protections''), https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/childrens-information/childrens-code-guidance-and-resources/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online-services/code-standards.
    \35\ See, e.g., The Student Data Privacy Project, https://www.studentdataprivacyproject.com/
    \36\ See, e.g., Batya Friedman, Peter H. Kahn, and Alan Borning. 
2008. Value Sensitive Design and Information Systems. In The 
Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, Kenneth Einar Himma and 
Herman T. Tavani (eds.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA, 
69-101. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470281819.ch4; Lara Houston, 
Steven J Jackson, Daniela K Rosner, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Meg Young, 
and Laewoo Kang. 2016. Values in Repair. In Proceedings of the 2016 
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems--CHI '16, ACM 
Press, New York, New York, USA, 1403-1414. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858470
    \37\ See, e.g., Jina Huh-Yoo, Afsaneh Razi, Diep N. Nguyen, 
Sampada Regmi, and Pamela J. Wisniewski. 2023. ``Help Me:'' 
Examining Youth's Private Pleas for Support and the Responses 
Received from Peers via Instagram Direct Messages. In Proceedings of 
the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 
'23), Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1-14. 
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581233; Marie Louise Juul 
S[oslash]ndergaard, Marianela Ciolfi Felice, and Madeline Balaam. 
2021. Designing Menstrual Technologies with Adolescents. In 
Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing 
Systems, ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1-14. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445471
    \38\ See, e.g., Microsoft, New Microsoft Research Illustrates 
the Online Risks and Value of Safety Tools to Keep Kids Safer in the 
Digital Environment, Microsoft On the Issues (Feb. 2, 2023), https:/
/blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2023/02/06/safer-internet-day-global-online-safety-survey-2023; Instagram, Continuing to Make 
Instagram Safer for the Youngest Members of Our Community (Updated 
May 19, 2023), https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/continuing-to-make-instagram-safer-for-the-youngest-members-of-our-community; Snapchat, Family Center--Parental Control For Teens, 
Snapchat Safety, https://values.snap.com/safety/family-center (last 
visited Aug. 10, 2023) (noting it lets parents see who's on their 
child's friends list and who they kids are talking to, but not what 
they are saying); Twitch, Guide for Parents & Educators, https://safety.twitch.tv/s/article/Guide-Parents-Educators?language=en_US 
(last visited Aug. 10, 2023) (offering no parental controls, but, 
instead, guidance); Minecraft, Understanding Minecraft Social 
Features for Child Safety Online, Minecraft Help, https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/360058605852-Understanding-Minecraft-Social-Features-for-Child-Safety-Online (last visited Aug. 
10, 2023) (noting that some versions of the game automatically 
censors swear words).
    \39\ E.g., Alex Hern, Social Media Giants Increase Global Child 
Safety After UK Regulations Introduced, The Guardian (Sept. 5, 
2021), https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/05/social-media-giants-increase-global-child-safety-after-uk-regulations-introduced.
    \40\ See, e.g., Roblox, Experience Guidelines, Documentation--
Roblox Creator Hub, https://create.roblox.com/docs/production/promotion/experience-guidelines (last visited Aug. 10, 2023).
    \41\ See., e.g., Discord, Tips for Parents on Helping Your Teen 
Stay Safe on Discord, https://discord.com/safety/360044153831-helping-your-teen-stay-safe-on-discord (last visited Aug. 10, 2023); 
and Answering Parents' and Educators' Top Questions, Question 7--How 
C can I monitor what my teen is doing in Discord, https://discord.com/safety/360044149591-answering-parents-and-educators-top-questions#title-7 (last visited Aug. 10, 2023).
    \42\ YouTube, YouTube Kids--Parent Resources: Tips and Tools for 
Your Family https://www.youtube.com/intl/ALL_us/kids/parent-resources (last visited Aug. 10, 2023).
    \43\ See also, Neil Richards and Oliver Khairallah, The Privacy 
Advisor: Digital Child Protection is Not Censorship, International 
Association of Privacy Professionals (June 15, 2023), https://iapp.org/news/a/digital-child-protection-is-not-censorship.
    \44\ Advisory at 15 (noting what policy makers can do about 
access to data) and 16 (listing what tech companies can do).
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II. Objectives of This Notice

    This Notice offers an opportunity for all interested parties to 
provide vital input and recommendations for consideration in the Task 
Force's work.

[[Page 67737]]

NTIA seeks public input and feedback from a wide array of stakeholders, 
including parents, guardians and caregivers; educators and 
administrators; scientists and technologists; youth advocates; 
regulators and law enforcement; civil advocates and those in the 
advertising and business communities, including influencers and those 
involved with social media and online platforms; experts on relevant 
medical, legal, and other matters pertinent to the Task Force's 
mandate; and other interested parties. This input will inform the Task 
Force's recommendations and future work.

III. Instructions for Commenters

    NTIA welcomes input on any matter that commenters believe is 
important to the Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force's efforts to 
review how use of, and exposure to, social media and other online 
platforms impact the health and well-being (including safety and 
privacy) of youth. Further, NTIA seeks feedback on current industry 
practices, and ways that the private sector, parents and guardians, the 
U.S. government, and any other party might improve the current status 
quo.
    Commenters are invited to comment on the full range of issues 
presented by this RFC and are encouraged to address any or all of the 
following questions, or to provide additional information relevant to 
the Task Force. As noted above, much work has been done in specific 
areas identified below. This Request for Comment seeks to supplement 
that work, rather than repeat it, and to draw out the works or ideas 
that might be useful for discussion.
    This request particularly welcomes comment providing or advancing 
thinking as to: (1) identification of the health, safety and privacy 
risks and benefits for minors from the use of online platforms and 
services; (2) information on the status of industry efforts and 
technology, (3) practical solutions to the specific identified issues, 
and (4) guidance to parents, guardians, and caregivers that is based 
upon rigorous evaluation and has been shown to be effective in 
specific, articulated ways.
    The term ``social media and other online platforms'' could 
encompass many services and technologies. These include, among others, 
platforms set up as social media, gaming platforms and interactive 
games (even if decentralized), online platforms or websites that host 
postings of video and other content, and even search engines could be 
viewed as advertising platforms. However, the relevant items for 
discussion are how the various types of social media and other online 
platforms are tied to minors' safety, health, and privacy. Similarly, 
commenters are asked to differentiate, where appropriate, the 
categories to be specific about the types of social media and other 
online platforms and the specific types of harm they are describing as 
they discuss various aspects of this topic, including which minors that 
they are referencing.
    The questions below cover issues that could affect youth of all 
ages, from toddlers to adolescents. This Request for Comment is meant 
to be all-encompassing, and the terms ``minors'' and ``youths'' are 
used in this document to describe people under 18 years of age. 
However, it is helpful to note with some specificity if particular 
harms or solutions, for example, are more relevant to specific 
demographic or age groups or youths with accessibility requirements 
benefit in particular (for example, blind youth, low-income youth, or 
youth affiliated by gender, sexuality, race, or religion).
    Commenters are not required to respond to all questions. When 
responding to one or more of the questions below, please note in the 
text of your response the number of the question to which you are 
responding. Commenters are welcome to provide specific actionable 
proposals, rationales, and relevant facts. Commenters should include a 
page number on each page of their submissions. Please note that for 
this comment, because of the volumes of material already available in 
this area, NTIA is requesting concise comments that are at most fifteen 
(15) single-spaced pages. Commenters are welcome to provide citations 
to other work detailing particular areas of concern, studies, or 
solutions.
    Please do not include in your comments information of a 
confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or 
proprietary information. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted to Regulations.gov without change. 
All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily 
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Information 
obtained as a result of this notice may be used by the federal 
government for program planning on a non-attribution basis.

Identifying Health, Safety, and Privacy Risks and Potential Benefits

    1. What are the current and emerging risks of harm to minors 
associated with social media and other online platforms?
    a. What harms or risks of harm do social media and other online 
platforms facilitate with respect to, or impose upon, minors?
    b. What are the specific design characteristics that most likely 
lead to behavior modifications leading to harms or risks?
    c. What information concerning platform safety is provided to 
parents, care givers, and children by providers? Where is that 
information found? Where could it be located that would provide the 
best avenue to reach parents, care givers, and children?
    d. For each harm or risk identified, please note whether imposition 
of such harm or risk is currently subject to civil or criminal legal 
sanction, and, if so, whether these existing legal frameworks 
adequately deter and/or penalize such imposition.
    e. Are these harms evenly distributed? Or do they accrue 
disproportionately to certain demographic or age groups or youths with 
accessibility requirements (for example, based on gender, sexuality, 
age, race, or religion)?
    f. Is the likelihood of these harms enhanced, facilitated, 
incentivized, created, or alleviated by technical design 
characteristics, business arrangements, or other contingent factors?
    g. Conversely, are the factors that facilitate harms and risks in 
this area inherent in social media and other online platforms' 
offerings?
    h. Do specific applications of artificial intelligence and/or other 
emerging technologies exacerbate or help alleviate certain harms or 
risks of harm in this area? If so, which and how?
    2. Are there particular market conditions or incentives built into 
the market structure that enhance or deter benefits and/or harms that 
should be addressed and/or encouraged?
    3. What are the current and emerging health and other benefits--or 
potential benefits--to minors associated with social media and other 
online platforms (including to physical, cognitive, mental, and socio-
emotional well-being)? \45\
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    \45\ As the Instructions note, this Request for Comment seeks to 
supplement work that has already been done in this area, rather than 
repeat it, and to draw out the works or ideas that might be useful 
for discussion. Including references to existing work is helpful.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    a. Are these benefits generally available to most minors? Do minors 
in specific demographic or age groups or youths with accessibility 
requirements benefit in particular (for example, blind youth, low-
income youth, or youth

[[Page 67738]]

affiliated by gender, sexuality, race, or religion)?
    b. Is there a particularly sensitive developmental period during 
which minors are more likely to obtain certain benefits?
    4. Do particular technical design characteristics, business 
arrangements, or other contingent factors for some online platforms 
allow for or enhance the benefits referenced in Question 3?
    a. Are those characteristics or factors inherent in social media 
and other online platforms' offerings?
    b. Conversely, are there particular characteristics or factors that 
impede access to the beneficial aspects of social media and other 
online platforms? Are there barriers to making design elements 
available across multiple platforms?
    5. Are there ways that young people have been or could be involved 
in making improvements to the health and safety of online platforms 
including social media that you think should be encouraged?
    a. What are best practices in youth involvement in making 
improvements to the design and use of online platforms including social 
media? What roles did youth play? What roles did adults play? What has 
been the impact of these efforts?
    b. What suggestions do you have for youth involvement in making 
improvements to online platforms including social media? Please be as 
specific as possible.

The Status of Current Practices

    6. What practices and technologies do social media and other online 
platform providers employ today that exert a significant positive or 
negative effect on minors' health, safety, and privacy?
    a. What practices and technologies do specific social media and 
other online platform providers employ today for assessing, preventing, 
and mitigating harms? What specific practices for being especially 
effective or ineffective?
    b. Do the practices referenced in Queston [5a] impose unintended 
consequences? If so, what are they, and how can they be mitigated?
    c. Have the practices of social media and other online platforms 
evolved over time to enhance or undercut minors' health and safety, 
including their privacy, in ways that should be taken into account for 
future efforts? If so, how? For example, what factors have been 
significant in shaping any such evolution that are likely to have 
similar bearing on the future of industry practices?
    d. What are the relative roles played by shifts in norms, business 
and economic circumstances, legal mandates, scientific and social 
scientific consensus, and/or other relevant factors? Which of these 
factors shape practices the most and how?
    7. What is the impact of dark patterns or design on minors' health 
and safety, including their privacy (for example, being addictive, 
extended online use, making wrong decisions, or taking incorrect 
actions)?
    8. Do platform providers' practices or technologies 
disproportionately benefit or harm certain specific demographic or age 
groups or youths with accessibility requirements benefit in particular 
(for example, blind youth, low-income youth, or youth affiliated by 
gender, sexuality, race, or religion)? How should that be factored into 
any best practices and/or other recommendations that this Task Force 
might explore?
    9. Do the practices currently employed by social media and other 
online platforms of relevance to this inquiry differ materially between 
organizations and entities or are they similar? If they are different 
what is the source of the disparities? If they mirror one another, what 
is the source of the similarities? For example, do differences and 
similarities stem principally from various business models, legal 
frameworks, commonly used technologies, key decision-makers, or other 
factors?
    10. Among the practices currently employed by social media and 
other online platforms, which ones best maximize benefits to minors' 
health, safety, and/or privacy while minimizing the risk or imposition 
of harm? How do they do so?
    a. Could these practices be adopted, in whole or in part, by other 
platforms?
    b. What modifications, if any, would be required before they could 
be adopted by other platforms?
    c. What are the most significant barriers to adoption and 
implementation of such practices by other platforms, and what are the 
most significant incentives for other platforms to adopt these 
practices?
    d. How do these practices work in concert with other practices to 
protect and advance minors' online health, safety, and/or privacy?
    11. Are there potential best practices (for example, practices 
related to design, testing, or configuration) or policies that are not 
currently employed by social media and other online platforms that 
should be considered?
    12. How can such policies or best practices be best tailored in the 
future to different ages and stages of a child's emotional and 
cognitive development?

Identifying Technical Barriers to, and Enablers of, Kids' Online 
Health, Safety, and Privacy

    13. Are there technical design choices employed by specific social 
media platforms and other online platforms or supported by research 
that should be adopted by other social media and other online platforms 
to advance minors' health, safety, and/or privacy online?
    a. If so, what are the best ways to promote or ensure adoption of 
such practices?
    b. Are new entrants able to offer innovation in this area or are 
there barriers (for example, relating to interoperability demands or 
the need for scale) that hamper such innovation?
    14. Are there technical tools or supports that could be used by 
platforms to improve minors' health, safety, and/or privacy online, 
whether or not they are in use today?
    a. What technical options or tools could be used to advance minors' 
health, safety, and/or privacy online? If available, why have they not 
previously been offered or facilitated by social media and/or other 
online platform providers? For example, are there factors other than 
health and safety at issue, or are there concerns about the effect on 
access to information?
    b. What steps, if any, must be taken to facilitate platform 
providers' expanded use of technical solutions to improve minors' 
online health, safety, and/or privacy?
    15. Are there technical options that could assist parents, 
guardians, caregivers, and minors by reducing potential for harm and/or 
increasing potential for beneficial aspects of social media and other 
online platforms?

Identifying Proposed Guidance and/or Policies

    16. What guidance, if any, should the United States government 
issue to advance minors' health, safety, and/or privacy online?
    a. What guidance, if any, might assist parents, guardians, 
caregivers and others in protecting the health, safety, and privacy of 
minors who use online platforms, including possible tools, their usage 
and potential drawbacks?
    b. What type of guidance, if any, might be offered to social media 
or other online platforms either generally or to specific categories of 
such?
    c. What are the benefits or downsides of the U.S. government 
offering such guidance, and which agencies or offices within the 
government are best positioned to do so?
    d. How best can we ensure that such guidance reflects the evolving

[[Page 67739]]

consensus of experts across relevant fields, including the mental 
health and medical community, technical experts, child development 
experts, parents and caregiver groups, and other stakeholders dedicated 
to advancing the interests of minors, and so on?
    e. How best can the U.S. government encourage compliance with any 
guidance issued to advance minors' health, safety, and/or privacy 
online?
    17. What policy actions could be taken, whether by the U.S. 
Congress, federal agencies, enforcement authorities, or other actors, 
to advance minors' online health, safety, and/or privacy? What specific 
regulatory areas of focus would advance protections?
    18. How best can the U.S. government establish long-term 
partnerships with social media and other online platform providers to 
ensure that evolving needs with respect to minors' online health, 
safety, and/or privacy are addressed as quickly as possible?

Identifying Unique Needs of Specific Communities

    19. With respect to any of the questions posed above, are there 
ways in which the response would be different for specific demographic 
or age groups or youths with accessibility requirements (for example, 
blind youth, low-income youth, or youth affiliated by gender, 
sexuality, race, or religion)? If so, how?

Reliable Sources of Concrete Information

    20. What are the best sources of scientifically sound evidence that 
should be consulted in any review of this topic, including those about 
benefits, risks, harms, and best practices with respect to social media 
and other online offerings?
    a. In particular, what are the best sources for information 
regarding the relationship between platform providers' practices and 
minors' health, safety, and/or privacy?
    b. Would it be helpful to have a particular trusted source for 
relevant information in this area? For example, would it be helpful if 
resources were provided by a medical association or a special 
government office?
    c. What are the most effective ways for platforms to gather and 
provide useful information through transparency reports or audits 
related to online harms to the health, safety, and/or privacy of youth?
    21. What scientifically sound evidence regarding the matters raised 
in this Request for Comment is lacking? What guidance that is not 
currently available would an expert expect or want for research?
    a. What are areas we have not included here that are important for 
developing a research agenda regarding online harms and health benefits 
to minors?
    22. Should platforms provide more data to researchers and, if so, 
what would that kind of data sharing look like, what kind of data would 
be most useful, how would it account for the privacy of users, and what 
are the best models for sharing data, while also safeguarding users and 
their privacy?

Additional Material

    NTIA welcomes any additional input that stakeholders believe will 
prove useful to our efforts.

    Dated: September 26, 2023.
Stephanie Weiner,
Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-21606 Filed 9-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P