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If you ever needed proof that Connecticut Democrats don’t trust parents — or the Constitution — look no further than House Bill 6857, a mashup of government overreach and digital nanny-statism because “it’s for the children” packaging.
The bill, which passed out of committee with zero opposition, essentially helicopter parenting by proxy of the Attorney General’s office. Starting in 2026, it will literally ban social media platforms from showing algorithm-driven content to minors — unless the platform first verifies the user’s age and collects “verifiable parental consent.” You know, because Mark Zuckerberg and his code monkeys are now responsible for babysitting Connecticut teenagers.
And if the platform gets it wrong it will be considered an “unfair trade practice” under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. Yes, showing a teenager more than one cat video per day without notarized parental permission is now on par with defrauding seniors out of their retirement savings.
But wait, it gets dumber.
The bill doesn’t just regulate what content kids see — it sets a daily time limit on how much they’re allowed to scroll through personalized feeds: one hour. Anything more and the platform’s default settings must shut it down unless the parents override it through some state-approved process.
Even better, it requires tech companies to collect your kids’ age and your parental consent… then delete that data immediately after use. So platforms have to build an entire compliance infrastructure just to forget everything they just verified. That’s not just idiotic — it’s expensive. And if you think only the Zuckerbergs of the world will be affected, you clearly haven’t met a single startup founder or software engineer in your life.
This isn’t about protecting kids. It’s about power.
HB 6857 is the digital version of the state showing up at your front door, wagging its finger and telling you you’re not competent enough to monitor your child’s phone — so now the Attorney General will do it for you.
And what’s the rationale for this surveillance-state cosplay? Oh, the usual vague hand-wringing about “harmful content,” “algorithmic recommendations,” and kids staying up past bedtime. Because God forbid we teach children self-discipline or trust families to, you know, parent. No, we need the almighty state to block TikTok notifications after 9 p.m. — by law.
This is Connecticut’s version of the Chinese Internet firewall, only instead of being run by the Communist Party, it’s run by Democrats who think it’s edgy to quote The Atlantic and still wear cloth masks outdoors.
And like all bad ideas, it’s wrapped in just enough moral panic to guilt lawmakers into passing it without reading it. Protect the children! Ban the scroll! Delegate your parenting to the government because hey, what could go wrong?
Here’s a radical idea: maybe instead of making Facebook responsible for your kid’s attention span, you could try saying “no” once in a while. Or better yet — delete the app and parent your child. But in Ned Lamont’s Connecticut, that’s too much to ask.
So congratulations, Nutmeg State — the next time your teen watches too many YouTube shorts, don’t blame them. Blame the algorithm. And if the company didn’t get your signed consent form in triplicate first, don’t worry: the Attorney General will sue.
The bill currently sits on the House calendar, awaiting a vote and, if passed, it will head to the Senate, where Connecticut’s war on parental authority wages on.
