Social media, AI safety bill advances in NC Senate

Social Media and AI Safety (HB 301) is quickly moving through committees in the North Carolina General Assembly and was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a favorable report to the Senate Rules Committee on June 3. 

HB 301 outlines social media protections for minors under 16, including age verification requirements for social media platforms. Reps. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, Neal Jackson, R-Moore, Jonathan Almond, R-Cabarrus, and David Willis, R-Union, are the bill’s primary sponsors. Zenger told the Carolina Journal in December that this is not a partisan issue and he expected the bill to move during the short session.

“The provisions requiring AI literacy in K-12 computer science standards make sense, and are overdue,” Brian Balfour, VP of Research at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal. “We should caution, however, against this becoming a top-heavy DPI directed project. There’s much to like about this direction, but flexibility for local districts, teachers, and families should be a priority. The social media section, however, is a bit of a departure from the public-school component of the bill and should be split off into its own bill so each section can have its own, separate conversation.” 

This coincides with a recent announcement from Meta regarding the rollout of new content settings for Teen Accounts. Back in October, new 13+ content settings were introduced for teen accounts in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Meta has announced that they are expanding the 13+ content settings across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. 

“Every day that goes by, we are learning more and more how disruptive social media is and the internet on our young kids,” Zenger said during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on June 2. 

Zenger referenced the human trafficking bill, SB 1007, that was also discussed in the committee meeting. “Social media is the No. 1 tool that they use to fish for victims,” said Zenger. “I’m open to doing more because it is so absolutely vital and important.”

He pointed out that if there were “no exemptions” in the bill, it’s not that kids wouldn’t be able to use these platforms, but that there would be more parental oversight because minors would have to access them through parental accounts or devices. 

“I would rather see us err on too much than too little,” said Zenger.  

“The desire to protect children from addictive social media apps is laudable, but there is concern this bill may grant the government too much authority and be stepping into the realm of responsibility that should be reserved for parents while potentially creating privacy risks,” concluded Balfour. 

The legislation has bipartisan support, and Democrats have expressed concern that the scope of the framework may not go far enough during a June 2 meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, asked about the bill’s framework, which would apply to platforms where at least 10% of users are under 16 and spend at least two hours a day on the site. She asked how many platforms would fall under that standard. Zenger said he did not know the exact number but believed it was “a lot.” Grafstein and Batch both stressed the importance of ensuring the legislation is broad enough to cover the intended scope. Sen. Sophia Chitlik, D-Durham, also raised concerns about the bill’s effectiveness and enforceability and agreed that the framework may not go far enough.

“It’s going to be a work in progress beyond passing this bill,” said Zenger. “I see it just being a continued work.”

Whitney Campbell Christensen, a Meta lobbyist, spoke in support of age verification through the App Store Accountability Act, which has been enacted in Texas, Louisiana, Utah, and Alabama and introduced in over 30 states to date. 

“It’s our understanding that the House sponsors, the family values groups, and the parents’ groups, like the Digital Childhood Alliance, also support the App Store Accountability Act. The goal that we all share for this legislation is for it to be effective,” said Christensen. “Meta will always follow the letter of the law, but many of these platforms can’t be trusted to self-police, 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.” 

“Social media, AI safety bill advances in NC Senate” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.