HB 1834 · Protecting Washington Children Online

Requires online platforms to apply child-protective defaults for minors, bans algorithmic feeds for known minor users, and restricts push notifications during school hours and late at night.

Social media platforms design algorithmically-driven content feeds specifically to maximize engagement — a design pattern that has been linked to increased anxiety, depression, and disengagement from school among adolescent users. Washington’s Attorney General brought this bill to address systemic design choices that harm youth, rather than placing the burden of protection solely on individual families. Multiple states have passed similar legislation; Washington’s version is among the more comprehensive.

HB 1834 requires online platforms likely to reach minors to estimate user ages with reasonable certainty or apply child-protective defaults to all users. Platforms may not collect personal information from children under 13 except for age verification. Providers of “addictive internet services” — those that use algorithmic recommendation — are prohibited from delivering such feeds to known minor users. Push notifications to minors are restricted during school hours (8am–3pm, Monday–Friday, September–May) and late night (midnight–6am) without parental consent. Platforms must default to high-privacy settings for minors, prohibit dark patterns designed to manipulate children, and offer all users the ability to limit daily usage, hide engagement metrics, switch to chronological feeds, and enable private account modes. Violations are actionable under the Consumer Protection Act. The bill has passed the Appropriations Committee and is in House Rules.

• The restriction on algorithmic feeds for known minors is the most significant provision — these systems are specifically designed to maximize time-on-platform at the expense of sleep, schoolwork, and in-person relationships.
• The school-hours push notification ban has direct implications for school climate and student focus during the school day.
• The bill reflects a design-accountability approach — placing obligations on platforms rather than relying on parental monitoring or student willpower against systems engineered by some of the best behavioral scientists in the world.
• The House Rules “X” file placement suggests it may not advance this session without additional pressure. Coalition members can contact their representatives on the Rules Committee to urge a floor vote.
• Watch the WSSDA and OSPI for any guidance they develop to complement this legislation, including around school-day device and notification policies.