Eric Trump posts logo for renamed Palm Beach airport

A group of North Carolina House Republicans is seeking to expand a bill that would restrict minors’ access to social media by requiring app stores to verify users’ ages.

At a Thursday news conference, Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, said House Bill 301 is intended to protect children from online predators. He said app stores would fund an age-verification clearinghouse, an approach he said could serve as a model for other states.

Zenger said Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, supports the bill and suggested legislation that would require age verification through app stores.

Under the bill, children younger than 14 would be barred from having social media accounts. Users ages 14 and 15 would need a parent’s or guardian’s consent to create or maintain accounts.

Facebook already prohibits children younger than 13 from opening accounts. Most social media platforms have age restrictions, but children younger than 13 still use them.

The House passed the bill with broad bipartisan support last year. Senate committees are now considering it.

North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said Thursday that House and Senate budget negotiators had made progress but had not reached an agreement over the state budget.

A central dispute is whether to allow previously approved cuts to the state’s personal and corporate income taxes to take effect. Under a state law passed years ago, the cuts are scheduled for this year and next if revenue meets certain targets. State economists and Democratic Gov. Josh Stein have warned the cuts could create a state budget deficit as soon as next year.

House Republicans, like Stein, want to delay the next round of tax cuts. Senate Republicans want the cuts to proceed as scheduled.

House Republicans proposed average teacher raises of more than 8% over two years and a $32.6 billion budget for the current year. Senate Republicans proposed average teacher raises of 3.3% and a $32.3 billion budget.

North Carolina middle and high school coaches could be required to complete mental health training under proposed legislation backed by the state high school athletic association.

Supporters said Senate Bill 550, known as the Coaches Care Act, would help coaches recognize student mental health needs and connect students with resources. The bill would require coaches to complete mental health first aid training.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children in North Carolina, and 1 in 7 youths ages 6 to 17 experience a mental health disorder each year nationwide, according to supporters of the bill.

This week, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association voted 17-0 to support the bill which remained in committee and would need Republican support to advance.

A 20-year-old Kinston man was arrested May 7 in an investigation into the online exploitation of minors, according to the Craven County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said Ashton French was arrested by its Internet Crimes Against Children unit with assistance from the State Bureau of Investigation and the Kinston Police Department.

Officials said the investigation began in December 2025 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a CyberTip involving the online solicitation of a minor through Snapchat.

Authorities also alleged that French sent explicit images of himself to multiple minors and, in some cases, traveled to meet minors for sexual activity. Investigators said they identified a 13-year-old victim in Craven County.

French was being held without bond at the Craven County Confinement Facility, officials said.

The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to identify additional victims.