Children's Protection from Violent Programming Act
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 15, 2001
Children's Protection from Violent Programming Act - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assess the effectiveness of measures to require television broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors to rate and encode programming that could be blocked by parents by use of a V-chip. Authorizes the FCC, if it finds such measures ineffective, to prohibit the distribution of violent video programming during hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make it unlawful for any person to distribute to the public any violent video programming not blockable by electronic means specifically on the basis of its violent content. Provides for exemptions for: (1) programming (including news programs and sporting events) the distribution of which does not conflict with the objective of protecting children from the negative influences of violent video programming; and (2) premium and pay-per-view direct-to-home satellite programming.Directs the FCC to impose a forfeiture penalty for violations and to revoke a broadcasting or distribution license of a repeat violator.Requires the FCC to study and report to specified committees on the marketing to children of violent content by the motion picture, music recording, and computer and video game industries.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.341 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.341 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.341 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.341 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.