[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5337 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5337
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require social media
companies to disclose the gross revenues from transactions involving
individuals who are younger than 21 years of age, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 18, 2024
Mr. Helmy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require social media
companies to disclose the gross revenues from transactions involving
individuals who are younger than 21 years of age, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Youth Revenue Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Securities and Exchange Commission (referred to in
this section as the ``Commission'') has broad authority to
require the disclosure of information if that information is in
the interest of, or is material to, investors.
(2) As of the day before the date of enactment of this Act,
the Commission does not require social media companies to
disclose information related to the gross revenues generated
from transactions involving individuals who are younger than 21
years of age (referred to in this section as ``young
individuals'') or related to the amount spent on marketing
targeted toward young individuals.
(3) Requiring the reporting and standardization of the
information described in paragraph (2) is in the interest of
the public, and ultimately investors, for the following
reasons:
(A) Young individuals in the United States are in
crisis, as evidenced by the fact that, during the 10-
year period preceding the date of enactment of this
Act, cases of severe depression among young individuals
in the United States have nearly doubled.
(B) In the 2010s, suicidal behaviors among high
school students in the United States increased by more
than 40 percent.
(C) The products offered by social media companies
have altered the way that young individuals in the
United States see themselves and the way their brains
develop, and the Surgeon General has issued a historic
and alarming report recognizing the detrimental impacts
of those products on young individuals.
(D) Frequent users of products offered by social
media companies are twice as likely to experience
mental health challenges, including the formation of
suicidal thoughts.
(E) 95 percent of young individuals in the United
States report using products offered by social media
almost constantly.
(F) Investors face increasing uncertainty as the
impacts of products offered by social media companies
on young individuals become clear.
(G) Valuations of social media companies have not
faced volatility when investors and the public have
been made aware of the adverse impacts caused by those
companies, but some investors have limitations on
investing in companies that harm young individuals and
society at large.
(H) Disclosing the engagement that a social media
company has with young individuals could inform
investors so that investors can be more informed
stewards of capital for their limited partners.
SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE REQUIRED.
Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78n)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(l) Disclosure Regarding Young Individuals.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Covered issuer.--The term `covered issuer'
means an issuer--
``(i) that is a social media company; and
``(ii)(I) the securities of which are
registered under section 12; or
``(II) that is required to file annual
reports under section 15(d).
``(B) Financial statement.--The term `financial
statement', with respect to any proxy or consent
solicitation material for an annual meeting of
shareholders of a covered issuer, means a balance
sheet, cash flow statement, or income statement that is
included in that proxy or consent solicitation
material.
``(C) Marketing.--The term `marketing' means any
activity carried out by a covered issuer to attract new
customers or to increase usage by existing customers.
``(D) Social media company.--The term `social media
company' means an entity that operates a digital
platform that facilitates the sharing of content,
ideas, and information to promote social interaction
through websites, applications, and other platforms.
``(E) Young individual.--The term `young
individual' means an individual who is younger than 21
years of age.
``(2) Requirement.--Each covered issuer shall disclose in
each financial statement included in any proxy or consent
solicitation material for an annual meeting of the shareholders
of the covered issuer, for the applicable period--
``(A) the gross revenues generated from
transactions involving young individuals; and
``(B) the total amount spent on marketing targeted
toward young individuals.''.
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