Press Room

An Act protecting children from addictive social media feeds supports children’s safety, education, and mental health by disabling or limiting the highly addictive features that social media platforms develop to keep young users endlessly scrolling through algorithm-driven content.

The bill protects young users’ data and preserves users’ ability to remain anonymous online, while also respecting residents’ First Amendment rights.

Details of the legislation are below.

Curbing Social Media Addiction

Turns Off the Most Addictive Features. Requires that all social media platforms adopt default settings for minors that limit the most addictive aspects of social media—designed to keep people scrolling for hours, often without realizing how long they have been in the app. These default settings include:

• Disabling the ‘algorithmic feed’—where social media companies capitalize on users’ personal online data to pick what content they see
• Disabling ‘autoplay’ and ‘infinite scroll’
• Requiring that users receive a reminder after using the app for one cumulative hour in a 24-hour period, then additional reminders every 30 minutes thereafter
• Turning off notifications between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Minors would not be able to change these default settings, while adult users would maintain control over their own settings. Social media companies would be required to utilize age assurance methods identified by the Attorney General to determine whether a user is a minor.

Respects the First Amendment. Preserves users’ First Amendment rights by ensuring that none of these default settings infringe on their ability to engage in free speech, access online content, or participate in public or private online conversations.

Giving Added Safeguards to Children

Steps Up Privacy, Security for Minors. Ensures increased safety for children by requiring apps to create additional default settings. These additional default settings, which users would have the option to disengage, include:

• Disabling the visibility and sharing of a minor’s precise geolocation data
• Limiting direct messaging and content sharing for minors to their connected accounts, e.g. ‘friends’
• Limiting the visibility of posts and other content on minors’ pages to their connected accounts

With respect to a minor’s precise geolocation data, the default setting could only be changed by the minor with their parent’s consent.

Preserves the Ability for Vulnerable Youth to Find Online Community. Minors would be able to change these additional default settings relative to sharing or receiving messages or content if they choose to. This acknowledges that social media in smaller doses can have benefits for isolated or disconnected kids, including LGBTQ+ youth who may not live in affirming households or communities.

Protecting the Right to Privacy for All

Shields Personal Data. Ensures that any age assurance methods used to change settings must protect users’ data. Users must be able to verify their age through a method that either does not rely solely on a government-issued ID or that otherwise allows them to remain anonymous to the platform.