Child Protection

In a growing effort to protect children online, policymakers and consumer advocacy groups have been pushing for new safeguards against digital platforms that may worsen mental health issues for young users. However, federal efforts to pass children’s online safety protections have been stalled due to disagreements among House and Senate leaders. In response, state officials have rushed to fill the void with their own bills requiring tech companies to vet their products for risks to children before launching them. But these bills have faced broad opposition from tech trade groups, many of which are supported by big tech giants like Amazon, Google and Meta. These groups have deployed lobbyists to meet with key state officials, sent their leaders to testify in opposition to the efforts, and even fired off letters warning about the potentially catastrophic impact of the bills on user privacy and free speech online. Despite such opposition, supporters of the proposed legislation argue that these safeguards are necessary to prevent children from being exposed to addictive social media features and other harmful designs.