Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Proposal to Protect Children from Dangerous App Content

Reps Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) introduced a bipartisan resolution (H.Res.721) that calls on technology companies to help empower parents to better protect their children from inappropriate content on digital applications. The resolution calls on leading technology and app development companies to establish an industry-run rating board to streamline age-appropriate app ratings, user-friendly parental controls, digital wellness features, and other tools to foster a safe, online environment for the millions of children who use apps daily. Two major barriers prevent parents from more effectively protecting children from malicious online content: the ratings of apps on devices and their descriptions are often inaccurate, inconsistent, or insufficiently detailed, and parental controls are overly complex and often depend on “ratings” self-assigned by app developers. This bipartisan resolution would take a necessary first step toward more effective parental engagement with digital media by calling on technology and app development companies to establish a rating board comprised of industry representatives and child development, child protection, and internet safety subject matter experts to fix app ratings and descriptions of the most downloaded apps.