Rep. Josh Gottheimer unveiled new legislation he says will strengthen online protections for children.

It is called the Parents Decide Act. Gottheimer says it would give parents more control over what their kids can access on electronic devices.

If the bill is passed, it would require operating systems like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages when setting up new devices. Parents would be allowed to set age-appropriate content controls from the start.

“Parents will get to make the decision up front…that information, your choice for your kid, flows safely and privately to the apps on that device. So, apps and AI chatbots actually know whether a user is a child or an adult and adjust content accordingly. Right now, they don't. And if they don't know, they can't protect them,” the congressman says.

A recent study by the University of California at San Fransico found that 6% of adolescents have secret social media accounts that their parents do not know about.