Hon. Thom Goolsby: Parents, Not Politicians, Should Decide Kids’ Online Access

by Hon. Thom Goolsby, former Chairman of the NC Senate Judiciary Committee 

North Carolina lawmakers are right to be concerned about children’s safety online. Many apps available to kids can expose them to bullying, predators, harmful content, and addictive algorithms that many parents are struggling to manage. Doing nothing is not an option. 

But House Bill 301, currently under consideration by our state legislature, goes too far by replacing parental judgment with a government mandate. 

HB 301 would ban children under 14 from having social media accounts and require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. To enforce those restrictions, social media companies would have to implement age-verification systems to determine who can access their platforms.  

The goal is understandable. The approach is not. 

There are legitimate privacy concerns with forcing widespread age verification across countless apps and websites. History has shown that whenever sensitive personal data is collected, the risk of breaches and misuse follows close behind. Even supporters of stronger online protections should be cautious about creating systems that require more personal information to be handed over online.  

There are also serious legal and constitutional concerns surrounding broad social media bans for minors. Similar legislation passed in Florida remains the subject of ongoing federal court litigation over First Amendment and constitutional concerns.  

Opposition to HB 301 is not opposition to child safety. Many parents and advocates simply believe there is an important difference between helping families protect children online and allowing the government to make those parenting decisions for them. 

And besides, a better alternative already exists. 

The App Store Accountability Act, legislation being considered at the federal level and already enacted in states including Utah, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama, would place age verification responsibility at the app store level and ensure that app age ratings reflect actual content. Under that model, app stores would verify age once and allow parents to approve each download requested by their child. This is more streamlined, more consistent, and gives parents direct authority over what their children access online.  

That is the key difference: parental empowerment instead of government prohibition.

North Carolina should absolutely pursue policies that help parents protect their children online. But lawmakers should be careful not to substitute a one-size-fits-all mandate for decisions that families are capable of making themselves. 

Parents know their children better than the government does. Any policy addressing kids and technology should start there.