Children and Media

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) reintroduced the Protecting the Information of our Vulnerable Adolescents, Children, and Youth Act, or the Kids (PRIVACY) Act, which would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act with safeguards to keep children and teenagers safe online and hold Big Tech companies who surveil and target children accountable. The bill includes strong provisions to build on COPPA's strengths and expand privacy protections for children and teenagers as well as directives to operators to make the best interests of children and teenagers a primary design consideration.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) has signed a sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage, in the latest example of states taking more aggressive steps intended to protect teens online. The legislation appeared to contain vast loopholes and exemptions benefiting companies that lobbied on the bill and raising questions about how much of the industry it truly covers. The legislation, known as the Social Media Safety Act and taking effect in September 2023, is aimed at giving parents more control over their kids’ social media usage, according to lawmakers.

Our analysis of 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) data shows that the Chicago Connected program helped to more than halve the connectivity gap for Chicago’s school-age children — from roughly 110,000 children in 2018 to roughly 46,000 children by the end of 2021 (19% disconnected in 2018 vs. 8% in 2021). The number of disconnected adults was also reduced in 2021 by 2% (from 15% to 13%) which amounts to a reduction of nearly 30,000 adults in 2021 alone.

As some states try to regulate children's social media use and TikTok emerges as a geopolitical chew toy, a new clearinghouse has emerged for mediating between tech companies and those concerned about their products' impact on kids: the 

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew tried to allay mounting national security concerns about the Chinese-owned video app but encountered open hostility in his first appearance before Congress, a five-hour thrashing that underscored the popular app’s precarious future in the United States. Lawmakers from both parties sought to tie Chew personally to the Chinese Communist Party, frequently interrupted him and called him “evasive.” While he p

Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) signed two bills into law that would impose sweeping restrictions on kid and teen use of social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok — a move proponents say will protect youth from the detrimental effects of internet platforms. One law aims to force social media companies to verify that users who are Utah residents are over the age of 18. The bill also requires platforms to obtain parental consent before letting minors use their services, and guardians must be given access to their child’s account. A default curfew must also be set.

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) reintroduced the Safe Social Media Act and the Data Algorithm and Transparency Agreement (DATA) Act to hold Big Tech companies accountable for the malicious content spread on their platforms and help keep teens safe while using social media. The Safe Social Media Act requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in coordination with the CDC, to conduct a study on the effects of social media use among American teenagers and children. If signed into law, this bill will:

Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA), a member of the House Commerce Committee’s Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee released summaries of gaming company responses to a December 2022 request fr

The Federal Communications Commission committed over $20 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP), which provides digital services for students in communities across the country. This funding commitments support applications from all three filing windows benefiting approximately 190,000 students across the country, including students in California, Florida, Maine, Oklahoma, Washington, and Wisconsin. This commitment will support over 90 schools, 8 libraries, and 5 consortia.

US Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the