Conn. Lawmakers Weigh Various Social Media Bills

Parents should have more control over what children and teens are exposed to on social media, legislators in Connecticut said during a hearing Tuesday. The General Law Committee, a joint panel with members from the Senate and House, heard testimony on a number of social media proposals. Connecticut should consider age-appropriate design concepts similar to those passed in California, said co-Chair James Maroney, a Senate Democrat. NetChoice is suing to block California’s AB-2273, the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, on First Amendment grounds. Maroney referenced a similar law in the U.K. Rep. Tami Zawistowski (R) said she's happy to consider the concepts. She spoke in favor of legislation she co-sponsored, HB-5429, which would ban the “collection and commercial use of certain digital information concerning minors.” The 24/7 nature of social media drives the need for legislators to step in, she said: Parents are in the best position to decide what’s appropriate activity for young users. She said parents should have control over their kids’ accounts up to the age of 18 or 20, but the bill sets the age at 16 because that’s “more achievable.” There should be federal legislation, but state legislators do what they need to do to “get people talking,” she said. Maroney said he wants to explore the concept of product testing to identify harms when services target children. Sen. Saud Anwar (D) spoke in support of his SB-395, which would require website and app operators to “obtain parental consent before allowing a child under” 16 to open an account with the operator. “If we wait for the federal government to act, we’ll be waiting for a long time,” he said. Rep. Vincent Candelora (R) spoke in support of SB-1103, which was introduced by the committee at large. SB-1103 would establish an office of artificial intelligence and contemplates data collection restrictions for government agencies. The government should be held to the same standard as private entities because it’s collecting proprietary data and actively using algorithms, said Candelora.