The state Senate passed a bill on data privacy and digital safety Wednesday, followed by protections for kids passed in both a social media protection and an artificial intelligence regulation bill.
The data privacy and digital safety bill, championed by Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, includes a series of proposed changes to redefine and expand companies' responsibilities to enact safeguards for children using their services.
"Companies have a duty to protect from risk to minors," Maroney told CT Insider. "And we have to require that things available to minors aren't heightening the risk of harm."
Referencing a recent CT Insider investigation into Connecticut students' romantic relationships with AI chatbots at the Capitol, Maroney stressed the importance of a new amendment added to the bill that adds protection from the sexual exploitation of minors online.
"These chatbots are engaging children in sexualized conversations," Maroney said. "These harms are happening in Connecticut."
The bill, which proposes additions to Connecticut's landmark Data Privacy Act, would also require companies to enact safeguards against cyberbulling and prevent targeted advertising to minors. The bill also changes the scope of companies that the statute applies to, requiring more data collectors, like small businesses and nonprofits, to also comply.
On the national level, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, re-introduced the Kids Online Safety Act alongside Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, on Thursday, which seeks to mitigate the risks to underage users from social media and AI chatbots.
"Regardless of who is behind the AI boyfriends that middle school girls in Fairfield were talking to, they need to be held responsible," Blumenthal told CT Insider Friday.
The bill, which stalled in the House last year, seeks to regulate the features that tech and social media companies make available to kids. The bill would require social media platforms to provide kids and their parents with options to opt out of addictive features and certain data sharing.
"These chatbots are subjecting young people to new explicit harm," said Blumenthal, who explained that the legislation would require tech companies to prevent harm to children on their platforms. "AI chatbots is only the latest technology that we need to make sure we are protecting kids from."
A lack of existing comprehensive tech regulations on the federal level has fueled Connecticut's push to protect residents, explained lawmakers.
"It is a dereliction of duty by our federal government that there has not been anything done on phone usage, apps and addictive platforms," said state Sen. Majority Leader Bob Duff.
Blumenthal echoed the sense of urgency, explaining that the progress of state legislation in Connecticut underscores the need for kids' online safety legislation on the national level.
"The important point is the momentum is growing," Blumenthal said. "The technology is growing and we need to take action."
The social media bill regulation bill passed by the state House of Representatives Wednesday matched many of the priorities of Blumenthal's legislation, aiming to reduce kids' exposure to algorithmic recommendations and targeted advertisements through parental controls.
"It becomes a question of the basic regulations that could be put in place to help parents navigate what is a very challenging situation," said State Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, on the bill in a Thursday press conference.
For Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, strengthening protections for children is important to ensure Connecticut's laws keep pace with evolving threats. Tong has also been an active proponent of the state's data privacy and safety bill, working closely with Maroney to push for changes that he says meet the needs of the quickly evolving digital era.
"We are way past due for significant regulation for social media and artificial intelligence," Tong told CT Insider.
With many of the newly proposed child protections coming in tandem with regulation for tech and AI companies, the bills have faced resistance from both Republican and Democrat lawmakers concerned that state level regulation will drive away industry.
"There is real resistance to taking action on technology that affects everyone, including kids and families," said Tong. "I'm worried there isn't enough urgency around these issues."
In a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont, Michel Blanco, director of state and local policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged Lamont to veto the data privacy and online safety bill should it come across his desk.
"SB 1356 would make Connecticut an outlier related to data privacy laws, harming its ability to attract businesses seeking to locate or relocate to the state," the letter read.
The AI regulation bill, which would add protections for consumers and criminalize sharing "deep-fake porn, synthetically produced intimate photos of an actual person," also has faced strong opposition.
The bill died last year after Lamont said he would veto it should it pass the state House of Representatives. Although Colorado, California and Utah have since enacted AI regulation, Lamont has said that Connecticut should work with a consortium of other states to pass state-level legislation to not alienate industry in the state.
Last week, as Lamont remained wary of the AI bill and Republicans in Congress proposed a ban on state level regulation on AI, Connecticut's legislation faces an upward battle.
For proponents of the online regulation bills, state statute is important to keep pace with the evolving technology landscape.
"We are going to be sorry we weren't more aggressive," said Duff. "Connecticut leads on this issue, and it is really important that we continue to push for this."
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