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H 4229

An Act protecting children from addictive social media feeds

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Billy MacGregor

Massachusetts bill restricts addictive algorithmic social media feeds for minors to reduce behavioral addiction and mental health harms in children.

Reporting date extended until Friday, November 14, 2025
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Bill Summary · H 4229

Legislative bill overview

H 4229 seeks to protect children from addictive social media features by restricting algorithmically-driven feeds and certain engagement mechanisms on platforms accessed by minors. The bill establishes requirements for social media companies to modify their platforms' design features that are scientifically linked to behavioral addiction and mental health harms in children.

Why is this important

Social media platforms employ algorithms specifically designed to maximize user engagement, which research suggests can contribute to anxiety, depression, and addictive usage patterns in adolescents. This bill represents a legislative attempt to shift responsibility for child protection from individual parents to platform operators, potentially affecting how millions of young Massachusetts residents interact with social media.

Potential points of contention

  • Implementation burden and feasibility: Critics argue that creating age-gated versions of platforms with different algorithmic feeds would be technically complex and costly, potentially resulting in reduced innovation or service availability
  • First Amendment concerns: Technology and free speech advocates may challenge whether restricting algorithmic content curation violates platforms' speech rights or creates problematic government content regulation precedents
  • Defining "addictive" and "harmful" features: Significant disagreement exists over which specific design features (infinite scroll, notifications, engagement metrics) are definitively addictive versus simply popular, making enforceable standards difficult to establish

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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