The bill, S.3164 An Act Protecting Children From Addictive Social Media Feeds, will decrease the addictive aspect of social media for minors by disabling the ‘algorithmic feed’ and alerting users when they have been using the platform for a prolonged period. This aims to improve safety, mental health, and education of minors across Massachusetts.
“We have a responsibility to protect young people across the Commonwealth and that is exactly what this bill intends to do.” said Senator Lydia Edwards. “The addictive features social media currently relies on have serious impacts on young users, and I am proud to vote with my senate colleagues keeping their safety in mind. Thank you to Senate President Spilka, Chair Rodrigues, and Senate Majority Leader Creem for recognizing the urgency of this issue and acting accordingly to protect our youngest residents.”
Key provisions of the Act:
• Turns Off the Most Addictive Features. Requires that all social media platforms adopt default settings for minors that limit the most addictive aspects of social media—designed to keep people scrolling for hours, often without realizing how long they have been in the app. These default settings include:
• Disabling the ‘algorithmic feed’—where social media companies capitalize on users’ personal online data to pick what content they see
Disabling ‘autoplay’ and ‘infinite scroll’
• Requiring that users receive a reminder after using the app for one cumulative hour in a 24-hour period, then additional reminders every 30 minutes thereafter
• Turning off notifications between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Minors would not be able to change these default settings, while adult users would maintain control over their own settings. Social media companies would be required to utilize age assurance methods identified by the Attorney General to determine whether a user is a minor.
• Respects the First Amendment. Preserves users’ First Amendment rights by ensuring that none of these default settings infringe on their ability to engage in free speech, access online content, or participate in public or private online conversations.
• Steps Up Privacy, Security for Minors. Ensures increased safety for children by requiring apps to create additional default settings. These additional default settings, which users would have the option to disengage, include:
Disabling the visibility and sharing of a minor’s precise geolocation data
• Limiting direct messaging and content sharing for minors to their connected accounts, e.g. ‘friends’
• Limiting the visibility of posts and other content on minors’ pages to their connected accounts
With respect to a minor’s precise geolocation data, the default setting could only be changed by the minor with their parent’s consent.
• Preserves the Ability for Vulnerable Youth to Find Online Community. Minors would be able to change these additional default settings relative to sharing or receiving messages or content if they choose to. This acknowledges that social media in smaller doses can have benefits for isolated or disconnected kids, including LGBTQ+ youth who may not live in affirming households or communities.
• Shields Personal Data. Ensures that any age assurance methods used to change settings must protect users’ data. Users must be able to verify their age through a method that either does not rely solely on a government-issued ID or that otherwise allows them to remain anonymous to the platform.
Included in this legislation are two amendments filed by Senator Edwards:
Social Media Platform Definition (Amendment #3)
This designates a platform as a “social media platform” if it either primarily displays content through a feed or primarily allows users to create, share, or interact with content. The original definition required both conditions to be met, which would have exempted platforms like Snapchat—which use addictive features and present safety risks for minors, but which do not primarily display content through a feed.
This exempts some sites that may otherwise fit under the definition of "social media platform" but for which the application of these regulations would be nonsensical and/or overly onerous. Examples include Wikipedia, the Trevor Project's TrevorSpace, and GitHub. These are sites that may be used for homework or for seeking affirming and life saving support.
Age Signal (Amendment #4)
This clarifies that the Attorney General's role is to regulate how age signals work across different systems, not to require every operating system to use them. Requiring all operating systems to add age signals would be difficult for open source projects, where many people contribute code. It could also create security risks if the feature is not implemented well and raise free speech concerns by requiring open source projects to include specific code.
The bill will now move to a conference committee to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions. Read the full bill text at malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S3164, and stay updated on bill progress at malegislature.gov/MyLegislature/About.