Governor Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong announced plans to introduce legislation during Connecticut’s 2026 legislative session aimed at addressing youth social media addiction and its growing impact on children’s mental health. The proposal would prohibit social media companies from exposing minors to addictive algorithms and notifications without parental consent and establish default protections for privacy, screen time, and overnight use.

“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. “Social media is all too often anti-social. We need protections for children in the online world of social media just like we have in the real world.”

Tong emphasized the public health urgency behind the proposal. “Social media is designed to maximize profit by overriding self-control,” he said. “These companies are selling our kids’ attention spans, with zero regard for the harm to education, friendships, and their mental and physical health. Connecticut is done asking and waiting for Big Tech to do the right thing or for Washington to step up.”

The legislation would also require companies to report annually on youth usage patterns and include warning labels about mental health risks. Lawmakers from both parties expressed support, citing rising anxiety and depression among children.

“This is not a fair fight,” State Representative David Rutigliano said. “These companies use predatory algorithms that deliberately target kids with questionable content, all to keep them hooked.”