EPIC Applauds the Massachusetts Senate for Passing Platform Design Regulations 

This afternoon, the Massachusetts Senate passed the Protecting Children from Addictive Social Feeds Act, which provides kids with important protections from harmful and invasive platform features. EPIC applauds Massachusetts’ Senators for committing to protecting kids online by regulating social media platform design.  

“For too long, social media companies have relied on invasive data collection and manipulative design practices to drive engagement, often at the expense of young people’s safety and well-being,” EPIC Senior Counsel and Platform Governance & Accountability Program Director Megan Iorio said. “The Massachusetts Senate bill’s requirement that social media companies design their products to be safe for kids is an effective and constitutional approach to protecting kids online. EPIC is proud to support this legislation.”  

The Senate bill:  

• Prohibits platforms from providing minors with addictive design features, such as algorithmic feeds, autoplay, overnight notifications, and infinite scroll; 
• Prohibits platforms from disclosing minors’ geolocation data to other users;  
• Provides users with these protections by default if they do not wish for the platform to determine their age — adults can opt out of the protections if they choose; and  
• Defaults known minors into settings that limit their visibility to other users and provides minors with control over these settings. 

The Senate adopted several amendments to the bill prior to its passage, many of which EPIC supported. One provision the Senate did not adopt—Amendment 19—would have made it so that all users—not just kids—were provided safety protections by default. EPIC prefers this approach, as it provides the broadest protection from platforms’ manipulative design practices and minimizes the number of users who go through age assurance. This is also the approach EPIC takes in its Model Age-Appropriate Design Code.  

Several provisions of the Senate bill provision are based on the Model Age-Appropriate Design Code  EPIC released earlier this year. The model bill reflects EPIC’sdeep privacy knowledge, significant state policy experience, and expertise in speech-protective platform regulation.   

A few months ago, the Massachusetts House passed its own social media bill. The Senate and House bills will now move to a conference committee, where representatives of both chambers will decide which bill will go to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for her signature. EPIC will continue to work with Massachusetts lawmakers to ensure that Massachusetts residents receive much-needed consumer protections that do not compromise their privacy and speech rights.