AN ACT PROMOTING THE SAFETY OF MINORS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.

House of Representatives
sHB5037 / File No. 179 1

General Assembly File No. 179
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5037

House of Representatives, March 26, 2026

The Committee on General Law reported through REP. LEMAR
of the 96th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of
the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT PROMOTING THE SAFETY OF MINORS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2028) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Covered minor" means any covered user who is younger than 2
eighteen years of age; 3
(2) "Covered operator" (A) means any operator who operates or 4
provides a covered platform, and (B) does not include the federal 5
government, any state or municipal government or any agency or 6
instrumentality of the federal government or of any state or municipal 7
government; 8
(3) "Covered platform" (A) means any platform that, as a significant 9
part of the services offered, recommends, selects or prioritizes for 10
display, either concurrently or sequentially, media items generated or 11
shared on a platform by users of such platform, and (B) does not include 12
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any platform that (i) primarily facilitates the sale of goods, or (ii) is used 13
solely for educational purposes pursuant to a contract required under 14
section 10-234bb of the general statutes; 15
(4) "Covered user" means any user of a covered platform in this state 16
who is not acting as the covered operator, or as an agent or affiliate of 17
the covered operator, of the covered platform; 18
(5) "Media item" means any text, image or video; 19
(6) "Operator" means any individual, corporation, limited liability 20
company, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, 21
association, joint stock company, unincorporated organization or other 22
legal entity that operates or provides a platform; 23
(7) "Platform" means any Internet web site, online service, online 24
application, mobile application or social media platform, or any portion 25
thereof; and 26
(8) "Sensitive content" means any content that the covered operator 27
of a covered platform deems to be in violation of the community 28
standards, or any similar guidelines or standards, such covered operator 29
has established for the covered platform. 30
(b) (1) No covered operator of a covered platform shall allow a 31
covered user to access any portion of the covered platform that 32
recommends, selects or prioritizes for display, either concurrently or 33
sequentially, media items generated or shared by users of such covered 34
platform if such recommendation, selection or prioritization is based, in 35
whole or in part, on any information associated with the covered user 36
or such covered user's device, unless: 37
(A) (i) The covered operator has used commercially reasonable and 38
technically feasible methods to determine that the covered user is not a 39
covered minor; or 40
(ii) If the covered user is a covered minor, the covered operator has 41
obtained verifiable consent from the covered minor's parent or legal 42
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guardian to recommend, select or prioritize media items for such 43
covered minor in the manner set forth in this subdivision; 44
(B) The recommendation, selection or prioritization (i) is based on 45
information that is not persistently associated with the covered user or 46
the covered user's device, and (ii) does not concern the covered user's 47
previous interactions with media items generated or shared by other 48
users of such covered platform; 49
(C) The recommendation, selection or prioritization is based on (i) 50
privacy or accessibility settings selected by the covered user, or (ii) 51
technical information concerning the covered user's device; 52
(D) The covered user has expressly and unambiguously requested 53
the display, blocking, prioritization or deprioritization of any specific 54
media item, media items from a specific author, creator or poster to 55
whom, or source to which, the covered user has subscribed or media 56
items shared by users to a specific page or group to which the covered 57
user has subscribed; 58
(E) The recommended, selected or prioritized media item is a direct 59
and private communication; 60
(F) The media item is recommended, selected or prioritized solely in 61
response to a specific search inquiry made by the covered user; 62
(G) The media item is recommended, selected or prioritized for 63
display solely because the media item (i) immediately follows any other 64
media item in a preexisting sequence, and (ii) is from the same author, 65
creator, poster or source; or 66
(H) The recommendation, selection or prioritization is necessary to 67
comply with any other provision of this section. 68
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, a 69
covered operator that has used commercially reasonable and technically 70
feasible methods to determine a covered user's age and is unable to 71
determine whether the covered user is a covered minor shall presume 72
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that such covered user is not a covered minor for the purposes of this 73
subsection. 74
(B) A covered operator shall treat a covered user as a covered minor 75
if the covered operator obtains actual knowledge that the covered user 76
is a covered minor. 77
(3) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision: 78
(i) No information that is collected for the purpose of determining a 79
covered user's age under this subsection shall be used for any other 80
purpose, and such information shall be deleted immediately after an 81
attempt is made to determine the covered user's age; and 82
(ii) No information that is collected for the purpose of obtaining 83
verifiable consent from a covered minor's parent or legal guardian shall 84
be used for any other purpose, and such information shall be deleted 85
immediately after an attempt is made to obtain such verifiable consent. 86
(B) Any information that is collected for any purpose set forth in 87
subparagraph (A) of this subdivision may be used or retained if such 88
use or retention is necessary to comply with any federal law or 89
regulation or any other law or regulation of this state. 90
(4) No covered operator shall withhold or degrade, or reduce the 91
quality or increase the price of, any product, service or feature due to 92
the prohibition against recommending, selecting or prioritizing media 93
items in the manner set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection, unless 94
such withholding, degradation, reduction or increase is necessary for 95
such covered operator to comply with the provisions of this subsection. 96
(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit any 97
covered operator from taking any action to restrict access to, or the 98
availability of, any media item that such covered operator in good faith 99
considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, 100
harassing or otherwise objectionable, regardless of whether such media 101
item is protected under the Constitution of the state or the Constitution 102
of the United States. 103
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(c) (1) (A) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the 104
covered operator of a covered platform shall ensure that the covered 105
platform displays a clear and conspicuous warning, in black lettering 106
appearing against a white background and enclosed by a black border, 107
that reads: 108
"The Surgeon General has warned that while social media may have 109
benefits for some young users, social media is associated with 110
significant mental health harms and has not been proven safe for young 111
users." 112
(B) The covered operator of a covered platform shall ensure that, with 113
respect to each day on which a covered user uses the covered platform, 114
the warning required under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision is 115
displayed to the covered user (i) when such covered user first accesses 116
such covered platform on such day, in which case such warning shall (I) 117
occupy at least seventy-five per cent of the screen or window by which 118
such covered user accesses such covered platform on such day, and (II) 119
be displayed continuously for a period of at least thirty seconds without 120
allowing such covered user to dismiss such warning or shorten such 121
period, and (ii) immediately after such covered user has used such 122
covered platform for three continuous or noncontinuous hours during 123
such day, and immediately after each additional continuous or 124
noncontinuous hour of use during such day, in which case such warning 125
shall (I) occupy at least twenty-five per cent of the screen or window by 126
which such covered user has accessed such covered platform during 127
such day, and (II) be displayed continuously for a period of at least ten 128
seconds unless the covered user affirmatively dismisses such warning 129
by clicking on a conspicuous "X" icon. 130
(2) No covered operator shall be required to display the warning 131
required under subdivision (1) of this subsection to any covered user 132
whom the covered operator has reasonably determined is not a covered 133
minor. 134
(d) (1) No covered operator shall send any notification to a covered 135
minor concerning any recommendation, selection or prioritization 136
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made in the manner set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this 137
section, unless: 138
(A) Such notification is sent to the covered minor during the hours 139
between eight o'clock a.m. and nine o'clock p.m. eastern time; or 140
(B) The covered operator has obtained verifiable consent from the 141
covered minor's parent or legal guardian to send notifications to such 142
covered minor outside of the time frame set forth in subparagraph (A) 143
of this subdivision. 144
(2) Each covered operator shall: 145
(A) As a default setting for such covered operator's covered platform 146
and unless otherwise required by a covered minor's verified parent or 147
legal guardian pursuant to subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, (i) 148
prevent the covered minor from accessing or receiving any notification 149
described in subdivision (1) of this subsection outside of the time frame 150
set forth in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, (ii) 151
limit the covered minor's access to any portion of such covered 152
operator's covered platform that recommends, selects or prioritizes 153
media items in the manner set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) 154
of this section to a maximum period of one hour per day, (iii) set the 155
covered minor's covered platform account to a mode that does not allow 156
users, other than users to whom such covered minor is connected, to 157
view or respond to content posted by, or chat or exchange messages 158
with, such covered minor, and (iv) prevent the covered minor from 159
accessing, viewing or receiving sensitive content; and 160
(B) Establish and maintain a mechanism by which a covered minor's 161
verified parent or legal guardian may require such covered operator to 162
(i) prevent the covered minor from accessing or receiving any 163
notification described in subdivision (1) of this subsection outside of a 164
time frame specified by such parent or legal guardian, (ii) limit the 165
covered minor's access to any portion of such covered operator's 166
covered platform that recommends, selects or prioritizes media items in 167
the manner set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section 168
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to a maximum daily period specified by such parent or legal guardian, 169
or (iii) set the covered minor's covered platform account to a mode that 170
does not allow users, other than users to whom such covered minor is 171
connected, to view or respond to content posted by, or chat or exchange 172
messages with, such covered minor. 173
(e) Not later than March 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, each 174
covered operator shall publicly disclose, in a form and manner 175
prescribed by the Attorney General, the following information for the 176
preceding calendar year: 177
(1) The total number of covered users who used the covered 178
operator's covered platform during such year; 179
(2) The portion of the total number of covered users described in 180
subdivision (1) of this subsection for whom the covered operator 181
obtained verifiable consent from a parent or legal guardian under 182
subparagraph (A)(ii) of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section; 183
(3) The portion of the total number of covered users described in 184
subdivision (1) of this subsection for whom the default settings set forth 185
in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of this section 186
were enabled, and the portion of such total number of covered users for 187
whom such default settings were not enabled; and 188
(4) The average amount of time per day that covered users used the 189
covered operator's covered platform, broken down by user age and 190
hour of day. 191
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to (1) require a covered 192
operator to provide a covered minor's parent or legal guardian with 193
access to, or control over, the covered minor's covered platform account 194
or any data associated therewith, unless provision of such access or 195
control is specifically required by this section, or (2) impose liability for 196
any commercial activity or action by a covered operator subject to 15 197
USC 6501, as amended from time to time, that is inconsistent with the 198
manner in which such commercial activity or action is treated under 15 199
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USC 6502, as amended from time to time. 200
(g) A violation of any provision of subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of 201
this section shall be deemed an unfair or deceptive trade practice under 202
subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the general statutes. 203
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 January 1, 2028 New section

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (b)(1)(D), provisions were rewritten for clarity; and in Subsec.
(g), "any provision of" was added for clarity.

GL Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes various changes regarding social media and minors,
including creating a new unfair trade practice violation resulting in no
fiscal impact to the state. The Department of Consumer Protection
investigates unfair trade practice violations and has the resources and
expertise to meet the requirements of the bill.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5037

AN ACT PROMOTING THE SAFETY OF MINORS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORMS.

SUMMARY
This bill generally requires covered platform operators, before giving
a user access to any portion of the platform that uses a personalized
algorithm, to (1) verify a covered user’s age and (2) if the user is a minor,
receive permission from the minor’s parent or legal guardian. It also sets
certain conditions where age verification is not required ( for example,
for media that immediately follows another item in a preexisting
sequence from the same author, creator, or poster).
Under the bill, covered operators must also give covered minors
certain warnings related to mental health (1) when the minor signs on
each day, (2) after three hours of use, and (3) after each subsequent hour.
The bill also limits covered operators to only sending a minor
notifications with any personalized algorithmic suggestions between
8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time , unless a parent or legal guardian
consents to the notifications at other times . It also generally requires
operators to make the platform’s default setting, among others, one that
limits the minor’s access to any portion of the platform that uses a
personalized algorithm to one hour per day.
Under the bill, covered operators must also annually disclose certain
information for the previous calendar year. This includes providing
certain statistics about users, including the number that obtained
parental or guardian consent and used the default setting, as well as the
average amount of time users spent on the platform.
The bill makes a violation of its provisions a violation of the
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Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA, see BACKGROUND).
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2028
DEFINITIONS
Under the bill, a “c overed user ” is any covered platform user in
Connecticut who is not acting as the covered platform operator, or the
operator’s agent or affiliate. A “covered minor” is a covered user under
age 18.
A “platform” is any Internet website, online service, online
application, mobile application, or social media platform, or any part of
them.
A “social media platform” is a public or semi -public Internet-based
service or application that:
1. is used by a consumer in Connecticut;
2. is primarily intended to connect and allow users to socially
interact within the service or application; and
3. enables a user to (a) c reate a public or semi -public profile for
signing into and using the service or application; (b) populate a
public list of other users with whom the user shares a social
connection within the service or application; and (c) create or post
content that other users can view, including on message boards,
in chat rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that shows
the user content generated by other users.
A social media platform is not a public or semi-public Internet-based
service or application that:
1. exclusively provides e-mail or direct messaging services;
2. primarily consists of news, sports, entertainment, interactive
video games, electronic commerce, or content preselected by the
provider, or for which any chat, comments, or interactive
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functionality is incidental to, directly related to, or dependent on
providing the content; or
3. is used by and under an educational entity’s direction, including
a learning management system or a student engagement
program.
A “covered platform” is any platform that, as a significant part of the
services offered by that portion, offers, recommends, selects, or
prioritizes (uses an algorithm) displaying certain media items based on
information associated with the user or his or her device (personalized).
These media items are those generated or shared by platform users for
display either concurrently or sequentially. A covered platform does not
include any platform that primarily facilitates the sales of goods or is
used solely for educational purposes under a contract required by law
between a board of education and a contractor if sharing student data
with the contractor.
A “covered operator” is any operator (an individual or legal entity)
who operates or provides a covered platform, but does not include the
federal government, any state or municipal government, or any of their
agencies or instrumentalities.
AGE VERIFICATION
The bill generally requires covered platform operators to verify a
covered user’s age before giving the user access to any portion of the
platform that uses a personalized algorithm. It requires the covered
operator to use age verification that is commerci ally reasonable and
technically feasible. If the covered user is a covered minor, then the
operator must obtain verifiable consent from the minor’s parent or legal
guardian to use the personalized algorithm.
If a covered operator has used commercially reasonable and
technically feasible methods to verify a user’s age and is unable to
determine if a user is a minor, the operator may presume the user is not
a minor under the bill’s provisions. But the operator must treat a user as
a minor if it obtains actual knowledge that the user is a minor.
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Data Retention
Unless any collected information is needed to comply with a federal
or state law or regulation, the bill prohibits information collected for
age-verification from being used for any other purpose and requires it
to be deleted immediately after an attempt to verify the user’s age. It
similarly prohibits information collected for obtaining verifiable consent
from a minor’s parent or legal guardian from being used for any other
purpose and requires it to be deleted immediately after an attempt to
obtain the consent.
CONDITIONS WHEN AGE VERIFICATION IS NOT REQUIRED
Under the bill, age verification is not required if the personalized
algorithm is:
1. based on information that is not persistently associated with the
covered user or his or her device, and does not concern the user’s
previous interactions with media items generated or shared by
other platform users;
2. based on (a) privacy or accessibility settings the covered user
selects or (b) technical information concerning the covered user’s
device; or
3. needed to comply with another provision in the bill.
Additionally, age verification is not required if the media item based
on a personalized algorithm is:
1. a direct and private communication;
2. solely in response to a specific search inquiry the covered user
made; or
3. displayed solely because it immediately follows another item in
a preexisting sequence and is from the same author, creator,
poster, or source.
Personalized algorithms can also be used if a covered user expressly
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and unambiguously requests that certain media he or she subscribes to
be displayed, blocked, prioritized, or deprioritized. This includes any
specific media items, including items the user subscribes to such as from
an author, creator, or poster, or source to them, or those shared by users
to pages or groups.
QUALITY REDUCTION OR PRICE INCREASE PROHIBITION
The bill prohibits covered operators from withholding, degrading,
reducing the quality, or increasing the price of any product, service, or
feature due to the bill’s personalized algorithm restrictions, unless it is
needed for the operator to comply with the bill’s provisions.
CONTENT RESTRICTIONS
The bill specifies that it does not prohibit a covered operator from
restricting access to, or the availability of, any media item that the
operator in good faith considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy,
excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, regardless of
whether the item is constitutionally protected.
DISCLOSURE WARNING
The bill generally requires covered operators to ensure that the
platform displays a clear and conspicuous warning in black lettering
against a white background enclosed by a black border. This
requirement does not apply when the operator reasonably determines
the covered user is not a covered minor.
The warning must read:
“The Surgeon General has warned that while social media may have
benefits for some young users, social media is associated with
significant mental health harms and has not been proven safe for young
users.”
The bill requires operators to ensure that the required warning is
displayed to a covered user (1) when he or she first accesses the platform
each day and (2) immediately after the user has used the platform for
three continuous or noncontinuous hours duri ng the day, and
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immediately after each hour of use during the day, regardless of
whether it is continuous or not.
For the first time a user accesses the platform, the war ning must
occupy at least 75% of the screen or window and be shown continuously
for at least 30 seconds without the option of dismissing or shortening
the display period. The subsequent warnings must cover at least 25% of
the screen or window and be displayed for at least 10 seconds , but the
user may affirmatively dismiss the warning by clicking on a
conspicuous “X” icon.
NOTIFICATIONS
The bill prohibits covered operators from sending any notification to
a covered minor with any personalized algorithmic suggestion unless
(1) it is sent between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time or (2) the
operator has verifiable consent from the covered minor’s parent or legal
guardian to send notifications outside this timeframe.
DEFAULT SETTINGS
The bill requires each covered operator to make the platform’s
default setting, unless allowed by the covered minor’s parent or legal
guardian (see below), one that:
1. prevents the minor from accessing or receiving any notification
with any personalized algorithmic suggestion outside of the
allowable time frame;
2. limits the minor’s access to any portion of the platform that uses
a personalized algorithm to one hour per day;
3. sets the minor’s platform account to a mode that does not allow
users other than users connected to the minor to (a) view or
respond to content the minor posts or (b) chat or exchange
messages with them; and
4. prevents the covered minor from accessing, viewing, or receiving
sensitive content.
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Under the bill, “s ensitive content ” is content the covered operator
deems a violation of the community standards, or a similar guideline or
standard the operator established for the platform.
The covered operator must also establish and maintain a mechanism
that a minor’s verified parent or legal guardian can use for alternative
settings to (1) set a different timeframe for accessing or receiving these
notifications or using the platform and (2 ) enable the restricted mode
described above.
PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
The bill requires each covered operator, starting by March 1, 2028, to
annually disclose certain information for the previous calendar year in
an attorney general-prescribed form and manner. This public disclosure
includes the:
1. total number of platform users during the year;
2. portion of the total number of covered users (a) for whom the
operator obtained verifiable consent from a parent or legal
guardian, (b) that had the default settings enabled, and (c) that
did not have the default settings enabled; and
3. the average amount of time per day that covered users used the
platform, broken down by user age and hour of day.
APPLICABILITY
The bill specifies that it does not:
1. require a covered operator to give a covered minor’s parent or
legal guardian access to, or control over, the minor’s platform
account or any data associated with it, unless the access or control
is specifically required by the bill, or
2. impose liability for any commercial activity or action by an
operator subject to the federal Children’s Online Privacy
Protection Act (COPPA) that is inconsistent with how COPPA
treats commercial activity or action (15 U.S.C. § 6501).
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BACKGROUND
CUTPA
By law, CUTPA prohibits businesses from engaging in unfair and
deceptive acts or practices. It allows the Department of Consumer
Protection commissioner, under specified procedures, to issue
regulations defining an unfair trade practice, investigate complaints,
issue cease and desist orders, order restitution in cases involving less
than $10,000, impose civil penalties of up to $5,000, enter into consent
agreements, ask the attorney general to seek injunctive relief, and accept
voluntary statements of compl iance. It also allows individuals to sue.
Courts may issue restraining orders; award actual and punitive
damages, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees; and impose civil
penalties of up to $5,000 for willful violations and up to $25,000 for a
restraining order violation.
COMMITTEE ACTION
General Law Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 20 Nay 0 (03/11/2026)