North Carolina Department of Justice on States should retain the right to set s…

North Carolina Department of Justice

State justice department that protects North Carolina consumers and public interests, led by the Attorney General.

A federal bill marketed as children’s online safety legislation would tell tech companies they have no legal duty to protect kids, drop any requirement to verify users’ ages, and override the stronger state laws already on the books. Attorney General Jeff Jackson and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general are telling Congress not to pass it. The KIDS Act would preempt state laws addressing online harms to children, covering social media, obscenity, online gaming platforms, and AI chatbots. The bill appears to let state attorneys general enforce its terms, but it reserves federal preemption and intervention in every one of those cases. The state role is on paper only.

Unverified (Jun 3, 2026)

Source:

North Carolina Department of Justice, “Attorney General Jeff Jackson Opposes Federal Bill That Would Tell Tech Companies They Have No Duty to Protect Kids Online,” June 3, 2026. The official release says the proposed federal KIDS Act would override stronger state laws, preempt state laws covering AI chatbots, and leave the state role only nominal.