NC lawmakers zoom in on ‘addictive’ apps as they weigh social media restrictions for teens :: WRAL.com

NC lawmakers zoom in on ‘addictive’ apps as they weigh social media restrictions for teens

Lawmakers are focusing more closely on apps that use features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay video, push notifications that can’t be disabled, among other features that they say are addictive.

Posted

6/2/2026, 6:42:46 PM

Updated

6/2/2026, 7:51:31 PM

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NCCapitol

social media

Lawmakers

artificial intelligence

General Assembly

Social media platforms

By Caroline Yaffa WRAL state government reporter

Lawmakers are looking to narrow the scope of a bill that would ban social media for some North Carolina teenagers. They’re zooming in on features that they say make the apps more addictive.

House Bill 301 would prohibit social media platforms from allowing anyone 13 years or older and younger from having a social media account. It would also require social media companies to delete any accounts already held by those children. Children who are 14 and 15 years old would need parent or guardian consent to open an account. Any current account holders who are that age would need to obtain permission from a parent or guardian or their account would be terminated by the social media company.

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On Tuesday, lawmakers recommended changes to the bill that would target “addictive social media platforms,” rather than broadly covering all social media.

Lawmakers are particularly focused on apps that use features like infinite scrolling, autoplay video, push notifications that can’t be disabled, algorithm-driven content feeds, and livestreaming, along with engagement tools like likes and shares.

“Every day that goes by, we learn more and more [about] how destructive social media is,” state Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, a sponsor of the bill, said in the Senate Judiciary meeting Tuesday.

Sponsors also recommended adding restrictions to news, sports, entertainment, e-commerce and gaming apps, while still carving out services like email, direct messaging, search engines and cloud providers that don’t operate the platform itself. Under the original proposal, many of those apps would have been exempt from the ban.

AI provisions

Lawmakers are also proposing new provisions aimed at boosting students’ understanding of artificial intelligence.

The original proposal requires the state Board of Education to update its computer science standards to include instruction on the use of artificial intelligence. It would also require the state Department of Public Instruction to partner with N.C. State University’s William & Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation to develop AI training requirements for educators. Lawmakers want to keep those provisions.

The new proposal presented Tuesday would add a requirement from schools to be given a framework to guide AI policies and ensure they are working with vendors that provide safe and appropriate AI tools for student use.

House Bill 301 has already passed the House. But it would need to be re-approved since Senate committees have changed the bill language.

Zenger on Tuesday called the bill “the starting point.”

“I can see a situation where we're coming back year after year after year because of stuff that we learned,” he said.

Lawmakers added Tuesday they are open to expanding restrictions, prohibiting social media accounts for teens who are older than 13, as the original bill proposes.

The companies that own social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram already commonly require age verification. No accountholders to be 13 years old — one year younger than the bill would allow. Lawmakers are concerned because of the ease some children younger than 13 have had in creating accounts, as well as perceived harms of social media use on young people.

The bill would fine social media companies up to $50,000 for each time a younger teen sets up an account against the law's provisions. Families of those children, under the bill, could sue companies for the violation, up to $10,000.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, says the best way to require age verification is through the app store and federally approved App Store Accountability Act, not through state law.

“Unfortunately, those that don't verify ages properly will become safe havens for predators if we don't build an effective gate at the app store level,” Whitney Campbell Christensen, a lobbyist for Meta, told lawmakers Tuesday. The proposal from state lawmakers would require approval outside of that federally approved system. The use of social media among teens is nearly universal in the U.S. and many other parts of the world. Up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 in the U.S. report using a social media platform, with more than one-third saying they use social media "almost constantly," according to the Pew Research Center.

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