White House: AI must protect kids

The White House published a four-page legislative recommendations document titled “A National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence” on March 20, 2026 to guide Congress on national AI rules. (whitehouse.gov)) The framework directs Congress to require age‑assurance measures for platforms likely to be accessed by minors and explicitly cites parental attestation as an example of such requirements. (whitehouse.gov)) It asks lawmakers to mandate platform features designed to reduce risks of sexual exploitation and self‑harm for minors and to provide parents tools to manage privacy settings, screen time, content exposure, and account controls. (whitehouse.gov)) The document instructs Congress to affirm that existing child‑privacy protections apply to AI systems and names limits on data collection for model training and targeted advertising as core constraints. (whitehouse.gov)) The framework seeks federal consistency while preserving states’ ability to enforce generally applicable child‑protection laws (for example, prohibitions on child sexual abuse material), though child‑safety advocates warned that broad preemption language could limit state options to address technology‑specific harms. (whitehouse.gov)) Federal COPPA amendments enacted by the FTC took effect June 23, 2025 and required most regulated entities to comply by April 22, 2026, establishing a legal baseline that EdTech vendors and districts must already meet when AI handles children’s data. (federalregister.gov)) The White House urged Congress to convert the framework into law this year, and Senate negotiators including Sen. John Thune and Sen. Ted Cruz have signaled ongoing talks to fold children’s online safety provisions into near‑term legislative work. (politico.com)) School districts adopting AI‑powered EdTech should anticipate contractual and technical requirements for age‑gating, parental‑attestation workflows, explicit prohibitions or opt‑outs for using student data to train models, and FERPA/COPPA‑focused vendor clauses as recommended in recent education privacy guidance. (fpf.org))