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(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong along with members of the General Law Committee including the Ranking Member State Rep. David Rutigliano (R-123) announced state legislation to prohibit social media companies from exposing minors to harmful and addictive algorithms and notifications without parental consent. The legislation, modeled after similar measures in New York, California, and Utah, would also establish a series of default settings regarding account privacy, time of use and notifications, including barring notifications between midnight and 6 a.m. and limiting social media use to one hour per-day. Parental consent would be required to alter the default settings.

The legislation House Bill 6857 is receiving a public hearing Monday February 10th.

“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. We need to give parents back some control, and families can’t afford to wait for the federal government or the tech giants to do it,” said Attorney General Tong.

“I am pleased to support the Attorney General’s efforts to protect children from the dangers of unregulated social media use. Just as we do not permit minors to consume alcohol or cigarettes, we must shield them from the mental health risks and addictive behaviors associated with unchecked digital media exposure. This legislation rightly empowers parents, establishes reasonable limits on usage, and ensures accountability for social media companies—important steps in safeguarding the well-being of our youth,” said Rep. David Rutigliano, R-123, Ranking Member of the General Law Committee.

In addition to strong new default protections, the legislation proposed by Attorney General Tong would require social media companies to annually report to the state the number of minors on their platform, the number of minors with parental consent to use addictive algorithms, and the average amount of time per day a minor spends on the platform, broken down by both age and time of day.