Connecticut Attorney General William Tong calls on social media companies to limit algorithms and notifications for children who use their platforms.
Tong joined a bipartisan group of state legislators Monday to promote a bill he said would protect minors on social media. The new bill, H.B. 6857, was introduced by the General Law Committee and proposes prohibiting social media companies from using addictive algorithms and notifications for young users.
“We think it's really important to put up this gate so that parents can make an affirmative choice about how much time their children should be on social media and at what hours, and it helps them limit the exposure to algorithmic content, which we know can be very harmful,” Tong said.
If passed, it would require social media companies to establish default settings for minors that parents could change. The default settings would restrict a minor's exposure to specific algorithms, the collection of user data and the use of other addictive tactics for engagement.
“Our teenagers spend hours each day glued to social media, with dire consequences for their learning, relationships and mental health. These platforms are addictive by design, with algorithms and constant alerts honed to maximize profits by overriding self-control,” Tong said.
The settings would also limit users' social media use to one hour per day and bar notifications between midnight and 6 a.m. The legislation would require social media companies to report information about minors on their platforms annually, including the number of minors on the platform and the average time they spend daily.
Similar legislation has been introduced in states like New York, California and Utah. Tong said the efforts to implement restrictions on companies for children's health are not unprecedented. Not unlike the efforts made to protect children from tobacco companies' marketing of cigarettes and, most recently, vaping, Tong believes it's his responsibility to address. He said tactics like notifications and infinite scrolling are designed to be addictive.
“The scientist who developed that technology called it behavioral cocaine. And so they know, they know that this works to get young people engaged,” Tong said.
Rep. Roland Lemar, House chair of the General Law Committee, said the protections proposed are vitally important to safeguard children in Connecticut. He said the committee is working to craft state-specific protections.
Lamar said medical research studies point towards evidence of suicidal ideation, mental health issues, and a rise in anxiety levels in teens- all triggered by exposure to social media and the time spent on it.
“Addiction is the common thread in all of the public health crises that our community faces,” Lamar said. “But this is the one, to me, that is most damaging because parents have the least sense of the extent of the problem.”
In September, Tong was one of over 40 attorneys general who wrote a letter to the U.S. surgeon general criticizing these media companies. They requested that a warning be posted on all algorithm-driven social media platforms, affirming this is a critical public health issue.
Connecticut was one of several states that sued Meta for its features on Instagram and its other social media platforms. The state called the features harmful and said they were purposefully created to addict youth. Connecticut is also part of an ongoing investigation into TikTok over similar concerns.
