Published: April 2022

Advocates urge Congress to pass online kids’ safety reform

In a letter to Congress, coalition groups urged legislators to provide protections for kids and teens online. Advocates warn that the business model of the internet as we know it today isn’t healthy for children. Among their questionable practices, Big Tech companies prioritize continued engagement and data collection over taking offline breaks, encourage kids to share their sensitive data to get more “likes,” and expose young people to predators online.

Consumer Action joined more than 60 consumer protection, health and safety groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, in urging Congress to pass significant online safety reforms for children and teens. The letter follows President Biden's call, during his first State of the Union address earlier this month, for social media companies to be held accountable for their impact on kids’ safety, and builds on bipartisan momentum in Congress to add additional regulations. 

In order to protect children and teens’ privacy, better support youth mental health and
wellbeing, and create a safer online environment for young people, the coalition calls on Congress to pass legislation that:

• Provides protections for children and teens wherever they are online, not just on “child-directed” sites;
• Bans targeted advertising to young people;
• Prohibits algorithmic discrimination of children and teens;
• Requires digital service providers to build safety into their designs in order to prevent and mitigate harms to minors;
• Requires platforms to offer the strongest protective settings for minors by default; and
• Gives the Federal Trade Commission more resources for enforcement and oversight.

Lead Organization

Fairplay

Other Organizations

Accountable Tech | Alana Institute | American Academy of Pediatrics | American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | American Psychological Association | Becca Schmill Foundation | Berkeley Media Studies Group | Brave Movement: End Childhood Sexual Violence | Center for Digital Democracy | Center for Humane Technology | Center for Online Safety | Center for Science in the Public Interest | C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth College | Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development | ChildFund International | Coalition for Healthy School Food | Common Sense | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | Consumer Federation of California | CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute | Darkness to Light | Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action | ECPAT-USA | Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) | Enough Is Enough | Exposure Labs, Creators of | The Social Dilemma | Fairplay | Friends of the Earth | Global Hope 365 | Healthy Food America | Holistic Moms Network | Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) | Juggernaut Project | Keep Kids Safe | LookUp.live | Lynn’s Warriors | Massachusetts Parent-Teacher Association | Me2B Alliance | Media Education Foundation | Mental Health America | National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health | National Alliance for Eating Disorders | National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners | National Center on Sexual Exploitation | National Eating Disorders Association | Network for Public Education | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy | Parents Television and Media Council | ParentsTogether | Peace Educators Allied for Children Everywhere, Inc. | The Praxis Project | Project HEAL | Protect Young Eyes | Public Citizen | Public Good Law Center | REDC Consortium | 5Rights Foundation | SNAP Network | Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine | Stop Predatory Gambling and the Campaign for Gambling-Free Kids | Tech Oversight Project | Tech Transparency Project | Turning Life On | UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health | UltraViolet | U.S. PIRG | WithAll | Youth Villages

More Information

Click here to read the coalition letter.

Visit Fairplay’s website for more information.

 

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