CT Leaders Pitch Legislation Aimed At Tackling Youth Social Media Addiction

Connecticut leaders plan to propose new legislation aimed at combatting social media addiction among young people.

Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong on Wednesday announced they will propose the legislation during the upcoming legislative session, which starts next week.

According to a Pew Research Center 2024 survey, most teens report using social media and having a smartphone, while nearly half report being online “almost constantly.”

The Connecticut proposal is being modeled after laws in New York, California and Utah. It would prohibit social media companies from exposing minors to “harmful and addictive algorithms and notifications” without parental consent, officials said.

The proposal is to establish a series of default settings regarding account privacy, time of use, and notifications, including barring notifications between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. Parental consent would be required to alter the default settings, according to the governor’s office.

Lamont said more protections are necessary for children online.

“Increasingly, social media companies are taking advantage of kids, creating apps and algorithms that decrease their attention spans and drive them to become addicted, causing them to tune out learning and tune out each other, and harmfully impact their mental health and wellbeing,” Lamont said.

Tong said Connecticut can’t wait for tech companies to take action themselves.

“Social media is designed to maximize profit by overriding self-control,” Tong said. “These companies are selling our kids’ attention spans, with zero regard for the harm to education, friendships, and their mental and physical health. Families need action now to give parents the control they need to make safe choices for their kids.”

Similar legislation was introduced in 2025, and while the state House of Representatives approved it, it was never voted on by the Senate.

This year’s proposal will include a requirement for social media companies to provide an annual report to the state on 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.

It will also require a warning pop-up when a minor opens a social media app informing them of the potential mental health dangers.

Lawmakers will consider the proposal during the upcoming legislative session, which runs from Feb. 4 to May 6.