Children's Online Safety Act/Funds
Senate Bill 722, the Children's Online Safety Act/Funds, would create a broad new state framework to regulate online services used by children and minors in North Carolina. The bill establishes a duty of care for covered platforms, requires parental notification and robust parental controls for child accounts, prohibits dark patterns and manipulative or addictive design features, and mandates stronger privacy protections such as default high privacy settings, data minimization, limits on geolocation and profiling, and a right for minors to request deletion of their data and content. It also requires annual Child Impact Assessments and gives the Attorney General enforcement authority with significant civil penalties for violations.
The bill would also create new state entities to administer and enforce these requirements. It establishes an Online Safety Division within the Department of Justice, a Cyberbullying Unit within the State Bureau of Investigation, and a nine-member North Carolina Online Child Safety Commission with broad regulatory, investigative, educational, and reporting responsibilities. The Commission would issue binding regulations, review platform compliance, conduct research, hold hearings, publish annual reports, and coordinate with state, federal, and other stakeholders. The bill appropriates $5 million to the Department of Justice and $2 million to the SBI in fiscal year 2025-26, with additional funding in 2026-27, to support these new functions.
If enacted, the bill would add a new Chapter 114B to the General Statutes and amend Chapters 114 and 143B to create new enforcement and oversight structures for online child safety. It would expand the Attorney General's role, authorize civil enforcement actions and penalties, and require covered platforms meeting the bill's user and revenue thresholds to change product design, privacy practices, reporting systems, and parental controls. The bill would also create a new regulatory commission with authority to issue rules and oversee compliance, while directing state funds to new DOJ and SBI units and to related education, research, and enforcement activities.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text alone, the measure is framed in strongly protective terms and appears intended to address child safety, cyberbullying, and harmful online design practices. The overall tone is proactive and regulatory, with an emphasis on prevention, education, and enforcement.
The main likely points of contention are the scope of regulation, the breadth of the new commission's authority, and the compliance burden placed on large online platforms. The bill would regulate design features, data practices, and content-related safety measures, which could raise concerns about feasibility, costs, and potential conflicts with platform operations or constitutional protections. The bill itself anticipates rights-based concerns by stating it should not be construed to infringe state or federal constitutional rights, suggesting that free speech, privacy, and due process issues may be central to any debate.