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Committee hears testimony on age‑appropriate design code aimed at limiting addictive features for minors
Summary
Senators heard a detailed presentation and public testimony on SB 495, which would ban design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and late‑night push notifications for services 'reasonably likely' to be used by minors; the bill uses a 2% audience threshold to determine coverage and includes a private right of action, but opponents warned of First Amendment and vagueness risks.
Senate Bill 495 (LC640078S), presented to the Children and Families Committee, would create an "age‑appropriate design code" that limits platform design features shown by research to encourage compulsive use among minors.
Sponsor overview Senator Harrell, the sponsor, said he reduced the bill from 21 to eight pages and framed the measure as targeting design — not content moderation or bans on social media — to avoid First Amendment and federal conflict concerns. He described the bill as bipartisan and based on study‑committee findings about how engagement‑driven design harms children.
Key coverage and design restrictions Sponsor: The bill uses a coverage test that treats an online service as "reasonably likely to be accessed" by minors…
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