With children increasingly glued to their cellphones, Connecticut legislators are hoping to reduce potential harm with restrictions for those under 18.

Lawmakers are pushing a detailed bill that would reduce children’s exposure to addictive algorithms and notifications without parental consent and create default settings for children’s accounts, lawmakers said.

Studies have shown that the addictive nature, likened to “behavioral cocaine,” of social media is having an impact on the mental health of children and teenagers. The algorithm-driven feeds and repeated notifications keep students addicted to their phones, with some teens hooked more than others.

State Rep. Gary Turco, vice chairman of the legislature’s general law committee, and state Attorney General William Tong will be pushing for the measure when the 2026 legislative session opens at the state Capitol on Feb. 4.

“This bill is about empowering parents and protecting kids,” said Turco, a Newington Democrat. “Parents would have the flexibility to decide what’s right for their family — stricter or less — while ensuring strong baseline protections for children.”

Lawmakers will be back again with an updated version of a bill that was passed last year by 121-26 on a bipartisan basis by the state House of Representatives. The legislation never received a final vote in the Senate as time expired on the regular session. The measure was known as House Bill 6857 – An Act Concerning the Attorney General’s Recommendations Regarding Social Media and Minors.

A related issue that concerns legislators is the artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, stories of which have been spreading across social media. Various lawsuits have charged that AI companion chatbots had not only failed to deter teens in conversations about suicide, but in extreme cases had volunteered to help craft a person’s suicide note. The chatbots have also engaged in conversations with minors that were sexually explicit.

Based on data from the U.S. Surgeon General, teens have been suffering from anxiety, depression, and other issues as they spend hours on their phones every day.

This year’s bill, Turco said, will “establish safer default settings for children’s accounts, adjustable by parents; strengthen privacy protections to limit contact with unconnected adults; ban notifications between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.; and set a one-hour daily usage limit for kids, adjustable by parents.”

Reducing screen time

Gov. Ned Lamont brought major attention to cellphones in February 2024 when he mentioned the issue during his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly on opening day of the legislative session. Lamont told the standing-room-only crowd that “severe anxiety and aberrant behavior can be traced back to social media.

“Social media is often anti-social, and too much smartphone makes you stupid,” Lamont continued.

In an attempt to improve the situation, Lamont said the best way is to take a “little bit from China and a little bit from Beyoncé.”

In China, children are limited in using TikTok to only one hour each day. At concerts by superstar Beyoncé, fans must place their phones in a “Yondr Pouch” — a special sleeve that locks magnetically and prevents use.

Soon after, Lamont and Tong visited a pilot program at a public middle school in Manchester, where phones were surrendered by the students during the school day and placed in special pouches so that they would not be a distraction from learning.

Tong said recently that social media can be filled with problematic information that is available around the clock.

“We have to fight the misinformation and disinformation and hate online,” Tong said.

Two years later, lawmakers are still tackling the problem.

“Our responsibility is to make sure technology serves families, not the other way around,” Turco said.

At the federal level, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has co-sponsored a similar proposal with the Kids Online Safety Act. The bill passed on a bipartisan basis in the U.S. Senate by 91-3, and still needs approval by the U.S. House of Representatives, where a different version of the bill was unveiled in December. Among other things, Blumenthal’s bill would mandate research and independent audits concerning how the social media platforms affect the mental health of students.

“One truth is social media is an accelerant, like in a fire,” Blumenthal said previously. “It can spread and deepen harmful comments, threats and bullying. It can be a catalyst, as well as an accelerant. The harm that’s done— some think it’s funny or a prank. … Disapproval from contemporaries, peers is very important. Fellow students can have an enormous effect through social media in stopping social media from being an accelerant.”

With the increasing attention on social media and artificial intelligence, lawmakers now want to take action.

“This year,” Turco said, “we’re committed to getting these protections over the finish line.”

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