North Carolina Senate Advances Social Media Ban for Children Under 14
Legislation banning children under 14 from “addictive” social media platforms advances through Senate committee despite concerns over government overreach and parental rights.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — State senators advanced legislation Wednesday that would prohibit children 13 and under from accessing what the bill defines as “addictive” social media platforms, moving the measure closer to a full Senate vote despite concerns about government overreach.
The Senate Judiciary committee passed House Bill 301 without objection during Wednesday’s session. The bill now heads to the Senate Rules committee before potentially reaching the full Senate floor for consideration.
What the Bill Requires
The legislation would ban users under 14 from creating accounts on social media platforms deemed addictive, while requiring parental consent for users aged 14 and 15. Sen. Dana Jones (R-Forsyth) defended the measure as a child safety initiative.
“This is to protect our young children from social media, the addictive platforms. This would prohibit minors under 14 from having these addictive accounts, and then 14- and 15-year-olds would have accounts with parental consent,” Jones said.
The bill defines “addictive” social media platforms as those whose primary purpose involves uploading and viewing user content, where at least 10% of users under 16 spend two hours daily on average, which use data-trained algorithms for content selection, and employ features like infinite scrolling, push notifications, video auto-play, and engagement tools such as likes, shares, and reposts.
Data Protection Amendment Added
Senators approved an amendment Wednesday addressing data privacy concerns raised by Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed (D-Mecklenburg) during Tuesday’s discussions. The amendment prohibits platforms from selling child users’ data or using their information to inform algorithmic content recommendations and advertisements.
The committee rejected other proposed changes, including Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch’s (D-Wake) previous suggestion to raise the age restriction to cover users 17 and under. Senators also declined to implement a Meta lobbyist’s recommendation to place age verification responsibilities at the app store level rather than requiring individual platforms to enforce restrictions.
Opposition Voices Concerns
During public comment, lobbyist and former North Carolina state Representative David Lewis urged senators to oppose the legislation, characterizing it as a “one-size-fits-all government mandate that ignores the rights of North Carolina parents.” Lewis supported Meta’s position favoring app store-level age controls over platform-based enforcement.
The bill, which also addresses K-12 education policies regarding artificial intelligence use and student training, previously passed the state House of Representatives last month. Critics have raised concerns about potential government overreach and possible barriers to educational resources that students might access through social media platforms.
If the measure clears the Senate Rules committee, it will proceed to the full Senate for a final vote before potentially becoming law.
