The Banning Children From Social Media Bill (RESET, HR 6488) And What To Do About It
Today is: December 17th, 2025
Resources: Bill PDF, Verge Article, Committee Hearing (long), GovTrack RESET, Roll Call article about the bills advancing
This bill was discussed by the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade on December 2nd, 2025 and advanced to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee on a party line vote.
This bill is intended to pass with other "internet safety" bills like KOSA. They work with one another to create the possibility for a privacy and civil rights nightmare. The sponsors of this legislation are relying on the density of the text and the overwhelming number of bills to distract and demoralize people. Stay focused, don't get discouraged.
This bill would
Prohibit all "covered platforms" (the bill defines this using the definition from the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The bill's intent is clarified in the hearing memo for the December 2nd meeting.), meaning social media companies, from "allow[ing] an individual to create or maintain an account or profile on the covered platform if the covered platform knows that the individual is a minor." (Section 2, Paragraph a)
It would also require social media platforms to delete any existing accounts created by people under sixteen.
While it is true that children have had harmful experiences on social media platforms, social media can also be an important resource for children, especially those that may be socially isolated. It can help inform, organize, and connect, at its best. It seems overzealous to unilaterally ban anyone under 16 from accessing it.
Because the bill also gives the state the ability to punish any covered platform for violation of this law (Section 2, Paragraph b), it incentivizes providers to be overly cautious regarding the phrase "know is a minor". They may choose to implement age verification technology, or to terminate any account that they believe to belong to a minor for any reason.
Here's What You Can Do
You can find your Congressional Representatives here. Focus on your federal House representatives at present, since that's where the bill has been introduced.
Resources for contacting your representatives about this bill: 5 calls, Resistbot
The bill's sponsor is Representative Erin Houchin (R) of Indiana's ninth district. If you live in her district please be sure to contact her and let her know what you think of this bill.
It's important to remember that RESET is part of a suite of bills. In order to prevent the government from enacting internet restrictions, the bills must be opposed as a group.
My advice is to choose one bill to focus on and center your activism around that. Call, email, fax, or write your Representative repeatedly about that specific issue. It is likely the tactic these bills' sponsors are trying to use is to sneak by some of the worst things in the less prominent bills. Don't divide your attention to such an extent that you burn out; keep your focus narrow and consistent. If lots of people choose different things to focus on, we can collectively defeat these pieces of legislation.
OTHER BILLS IN THIS SET: KOSA, SCREEN, ASAA (This list will be updated as the week progresses)
â–· You can check the bias and credibility of the news sources in this post here, if you want.
