WASHINGTON, March 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Organization for Social Media Safety today applauded the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s approval of H.R. 2657, Sammy’s Law, bipartisan legislation that empowers families to use FTC-registered third-party safety software on all major social media platforms to help protect children from the most severe social media harms, including drug dealing, cyberbullying, predation, trafficking, and self-harm content.
Sammy’s Law enables parents and teens to choose trusted safety software by requiring the largest social media platforms to provide secure, real-time access, paired with strict privacy, security, transparency, and data-minimization safeguards.
“One of the most effective ways for parents to protect children is by using third-party safety software, which provides alerts to families when dangerous content is shared through children’s social media accounts, enabling life-saving interventions at critical moments,” said Marc Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety. “Sammy’s Law enables targeted protection from the most serious of social media-harms, giving parents an option other than today’s less effective and invasive means of supervision, including manually auditing children’s devices, duplicating children’s accounts on parents’ devices, or relying on expansive spyware.”
Samuel Chapman, father of Sammy Chapman, said: “Sammy’s Law will save thousands of lives once it is passed. We are so pleased that it made it through the committee yesterday. It’s an important step along the way to becoming the tool that allows parents to parent online.”
Rose Bronstein, a survivor parent, who lost her son Nate Bronstein due to severe cyberbullying over social media and a Board member of the Organization for Social Media Safety added: “Sammy’s Law would have saved Nate’s life. Nate was attacked over Snapchat, he received a Snapchat message from a classmate telling him “To Kill Himself”. If Sammy’s Law was in place at that time, I would have been immediately notified that Nate was in danger. I would have had the opportunity to intervene and protect Nate from further harm and Nate would be here today.
What Sammy’s Law Does
Sammy’s Law:
- Creates an opt-in framework allowing a parent/legal guardian—or a teen (13+)—to authorize the use of FTC-registered third-party safety software
- Requires the largest social media platforms to provide secure, real-time API access for authorized safety tools, with a baseline transfer cadence
- Includes strong safeguards: teen notice, data minimization, strict limitations on provider use and disclosure of data, rapid deletion, and independent security audits
Next Steps
Following yesterday’s Committee approval, Sammy’s Law will now advance in the House legislative process. The Organization for Social Media Safety will continue working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to ensure swift passage and implementation.
Background
Sammy’s Law is named in honor of Sammy Chapman. On February 7, 2021, a drug dealer reached out to Sammy on Snapchat and delivered drugs to him at home. He snuck out after his parents were asleep to meet the dealer, who gave him what turned out to be a lethal dose of fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid twice as addictive as heroin, 100 times more powerful than morphine — and fatal even in microscopic doses. Sammy had no idea he was taking it. As a result, Sammy lost his life.
About the Organization for Social Media Safety
The Organization for Social Media Safety, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit, serves as the first and leading consumer protection organization focused solely on protecting the public from the dangers of social media. Through education, advocacy, and technology development, we protect the public from all social media-related dangers, including cyberbullying, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, hate speech, substance abuse, human trafficking, among many others. Leveraging an unparalleled expertise in social media, we seek to make social media safe for everyone. For more information, please visit their website at www.socialmediasafety.org.
Press contact:
Marc Berkman
CEO, Organization for Social Media Safety
(800) 349-3440
[email protected]
socialmediasafety.org
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sammys-law-approved-by-house-energy-and-commerce-committee-seeking-to-give-families-the-choice-of-safety-software-302706223.html
SOURCE The Organization for Social Media Safety
