How Social Media and AI Chatbots Are Reshaping Youth Mental Health, and What Congress Can Do About It

• Youth in America are experiencing a <a href="https://lumeamara.online/?p=6504" title="World Mental Health Day webinar”>mental health crisis, and those in rural areas face especially high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Apps and chatbots dominate digital mental health use, but there is a big difference between clinically validated tools and the general chatbots lacking such grounding

• Congress is crafting and debating bipartisan solutions. The Bipartisan Policy Center put together a task force to look at solutions, including improving social media literacy; strengthening privacy protections; increasing transparency; and expanding research on health impacts

• There is momentum in Congress around this policy challenge, and as we look to the 120th Congress, we should build on the current foundation to ensure young people can benefit from digital tools without being exposed to untested products or exploitative design

It’s hard to move legislation in Washington, DC right now. Congress seems deadlocked on even commonsense ideas. But there is one spot where we still see consistent bipartisan collaboration: youth mental health

That’s because the youth mental health challenge is vast. Nearly half of teenagers and two-thirds of young adults regularly experience mental health distress, yet only a small share seeks professional help, held back by social stigma, limited insurance coverage, or a lack of knowledge about available services

In rural areas, accessing mental health services is more challenging due to lower proportions of mental health providers per capita, with children in rural areas facing high levels of depression, anxiety, and other behavioral health problems. These disorders can impact a child’s health, performance, and familial relationships—and, in some cases, prove fatal

Social media is ubiquitous in the lives of America’s children, teens, and young adults, providing both opportunities for stronger connection to peers and interest groups, as well as challenges to their mental health and development. Numerous lawsuits and congressional investigations have found that young users are exposed to harmful content, disturbing interactions, and manipulative design features engineered to maximize time scrolling.

The use of other online tools—including AI chatbots—has also surged in recent years. Nearly half of younger adults report using a self-guided online or digital resource to help with their mental health. More than two-thirds of those users say they feel more comfortable using a digital tool than speaking with someone directly. Rural residents use these tools less frequently, but those who do are more likely than non-rural Americans to report that they find them useful.

Digital tools can be part of the solution. Emerging evidence shows that self-guided and prescription digital mental health tools can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety and may reduce health spending. In addition, a randomized control trial found a generative AI-powered therapy chatbot effective in treating mental health symptoms

Instead, many youth are turning to general-purpose AI chatbots—such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude—which do not provide clinically validated support and deliver generally affirming responses. In addition, some youth are developing unhealthy emotional attachments to “AI companions” designed to simulate friends and partners. Digital relationships and artificial intimacy are no longer science fiction; it is happening now in ways parents may not expect or fully understand.

Federal and state solutions are needed to keep kids safe, give parents insight into what is happening in their home, and leverage technology innovation where it is beneficial

BPC organized the Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force, to bring together former governors, former members of Congress, behavioral health professionals and researchers, and young people with personal experience to develop actionable, evidence-based policy recommendations. We also engaged a bipartisan congressional working group to embed them directly into the legislative conversation. 

The task force dug into how to ensure safe and secure social media use, urging policymakers to improve social media literacy among youth, parents, and the adults who work with them; strengthen privacy protections and restrict how companies collect and use young users’ data; increase transparency from platforms and their federal regulators; and expand research on health impacts. Many of the same principles apply to the use of generative AI.

This Congress, lawmakers have introduced several bills, many of them bipartisan, addressing social media, AI chatbots, and youth mental health. Several have advanced. See appendix below for a list of the key bills’ sponsors, bipartisan status, and summaries

On social media, the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1748), or KOSA, from Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would establish a duty of care requiring platforms to prevent foreseeable harms to minors and curb the manipulative design features that keep young users scrolling

Its House counterpart, the KIDS Act (H.R. 7757), from Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), folds in much of KOSA, though not the duty of care, and reaches beyond social media to gaming platforms, AI chatbots, and pornography sites. The KIDS Act passed with bipartisan support on the House floor. This is especially relevant given Meta’s recent landmark settlement, which includes $17.1 billion for states to address youth mental health harms, alongside significant changes to default safety settings on Meta platforms.

We have also seen movement on the Stop the Scroll Act (S. 1885), from Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and John Fetterman (D-PA), which would require a mental health warning label that points users to re April 2026

Sammy’s Law (H.R. 2657), led by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Buddy Carter (R-GA), would give families access to third-party safety tools and has been reported by the House Energy and Commerce Committee

Others would build the evidence base itself: the Youth Mental Health Research Act (H.R. 2587 / S. 1266), from Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Katie Britt (R-AL), alongside Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), would direct the National Institutes of Health to lead a Youth Mental Health Research Initiative, backed by $100 million a year, to develop better tools to prevent and treat the crisis these platforms help drive.

We’ve even seen bills to prevent violence that takes root online: Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s (D-CO) Evergreen Community Safety Act (H.R. 7445), introduced after a shooting in her Colorado district, would require platforms to answer law enforcement’s threat-related subpoenas within 72 hours instead of 35 days, a reminder that delay itself carries a cost once warning signs have surfaced

On AI chatbots and companions, the GUARD Act (S. 3062), led by Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Blumenthal (D-CT), would set age-verification requirements and keep minors off companion platforms, and it was advanced unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The SAFE KIDS Act (S. 4855), from Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), would require ongoing risk assessments, independent safety audits, and documented crisis protocols that connect an at-risk minor to external resources and notify parents. The CHATBOT Act (S. 4407), led by Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) with Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Curtis (R-UT), and Schiff (D-CA), creates family accounts and consent requirements and directs new federal research on chatbot harms.

These bills take different approaches. Some lean on parental controls, others on platform duties, data limits, warning labels, or audits. But they share the principle at the heart of BPC’s youth mental health work: young people should be able to benefit from digital tools without being exposed to untested products or exploitative design

As we look toward the 120th Congress, lawmakers should build on this momentum. There is achievable bipartisan work that can help kids and families and potentially save lives. We need to make headway in this space to hone and finally pass legislation that can help kids’ mental health

119th Congress — updated September 8, 2026. Status reflects committee and floor action where available. Progress: ●○ = Introduced, Committee, Passed House, Passed Senate, Signed into law