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<p><strong>Not every child online safety bill is the same—but many follow the same legislative templates. </strong>These are the most common categories of bills moving through state legislatures today. Explore each issue to understand how these policies work, what they require, and the trade-offs they create for families, privacy, and the future of the internet.</p>

<h2>The Most Common Age Verification Blueprints.</h2>

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<p>Our mission is to protect children and defend parental rights by equipping families and citizens with the tools to keep kids safe online. We oppose government surveillance disguised as child safety legislation and seek to build an informed, independent, parent-led coalition to #ProtectKidsOnline.</p>

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<p>Join our movement to advocate for kids' online safety.</p>

<h2>Keep in touch with Protecting Kids Online.</h2>

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KOSA sounds like a bill that forces platforms to protect children. It does not. At its core, the bill requires platforms to exercise “reasonable care” in how they design their products. That means documenting their process—internal reviews, design checklists, committee sign-offs. It does not require them to prevent harm. A platform that completes the paperwork is legally protected even if a child is still harmed by the result. The duty runs to the process, not to your child’s safety.

Kids Online Safety Act | Protecting Kids Online

Kids Online Safety Act

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Not every bill introduced in the name of child safety delivers on that promise. Below are the #BadBills we're actively tracking that we believe expand surveillance, weaken privacy, or miss the root causes of the harms children face online.

Bad Bills | Protecting Kids Online

Bad Bills

You don't need this architecture to limit your child's social media use right now. Device-level screen time controls, app-level parental supervision tools, and a running conversation about what your child sees online are available today, with no new data collection on your family required. An engaged parent, not a government age-verification mandate, is still the most effective safeguard that exists. No compliance template, federal or state, replaces that.

Social Media Bans | Protecting Kids Online

Social Media Bans

Breaking down age verification policies: Why Age‑Verification Mandates lead to Digital ID systems, data risks, and expanded government power.

Issues | Protecting Kids Online

Issues

Protecting Kids Online
Our mission is to protect children and defend parental rights by equipping families and citizens with the tools to keep kids safe online. We oppose government surveillance disguised as child safety legislation and seek to build an informed, independent parent-led coalition to #ProtectKidsOnline.

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Our mission is to protect children and defend parental rights by equipping families and citizens with the tools to keep kids safe online. We oppose government surveillance disguised as child safety legislation and seek to build an informed, independent parent-led coalition to #ProtectKidsOnline.

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Keeping kids safer online doesn’t have to mean surrendering their privacy or handing responsibility over to government or technology companies. Parents can take meaningful steps right now to protect their children, set healthy boundaries, and make informed decisions about the technology their families use. We’ve gathered trusted, practical resources from experts who share our belief that parents should have the tools, knowledge, and confidence to lead when it comes to their children’s digital lives.

Resources | Protecting Kids Online

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Catch the latest from our Founder, Julie.

Blog & News | Protecting Kids Online

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You don't need this architecture to protect your child from an AI chatbot right now. Device-level parental controls, app restrictions, and direct conversation about what your child is doing online are available today, with no new data collection on your family required. An engaged parent is still the most effective safeguard that exists. No compliance template, federal or state, replaces that.

AI Chatbot Compliance | Protecting Kids Online

AI Chatbot Compliance

As parents, we are navigating a world that changes faster than ever. New platforms, new technologies, and new challenges can feel overwhelming, but the most important tool we have has not changed.

About Us | Protecting Kids Online

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Children deserve real online protections—but those protections should strengthen families, preserve privacy, and keep parents in the driver's seat. We oppose policies that require Americans to surrender more personal information in the name of child safety.

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Supporters say the App Store Accountability Act protects children. We believe the facts tell a different story.

App Store Accountability Act | Protecting Kids Online

App Store Accountability Act

<p>Protecting children from social media requires <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>stronger families</strong>,</span> real-world connections, and parental authority, not another government mandate.</p>

<h4>Social Media Bans: Protecting Kids or Replacing Parents?</h4>

<p>When 30 Attorneys General <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>sued Meta</strong></span> in late 2023, most coverage focused on the dollar amount, a potential trillion‑dollar liability, and the emotional testimony about youth mental health. What didn’t get nearly enough attention was the list of structural changes the states are asking a federal court to impose on Instagram and Facebook.</p>

<h4>What the 30‑State Lawsuit Against Meta Really Means for Online Safety</h4>

<p>Every conversation about app‑store age verification focuses on the front‑end experience: a pop‑up, a prompt, a consent screen. But the real action is happening underneath those screens, in the <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>identity systems required</strong></span> to make “parental approval” work.</p>

<h4>What App‑Store Age Checks Really Build: A Family Identity Map</h4>

<p>A new national <a href="https://empowerourfuturecoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/CEF-Unintended-Consequences-National-Memo_June-2026.pdf?utm_source=copilot.com">memo </a>from the Coalition for Empowering Families (CEF) just confirmed something parents have been saying for years: <strong>the strongest protection a child has online is a parent, not a government mandate, not a phone ban, and not a one‑size‑fits‑all rule written in a state capitol.</strong></p>

<h4>New Research Challenges the Push for Tech Mandates</h4>

<p>For years, “school safety” has been used as the political and marketing language to justify new layers of technology inside K‑12 campuses. But a new wave of products, like <a href="https://www.verkada.com/solutions/k-12/#overview">Verkada’s</a> visitor management and access control system, reveals something much bigger happening beneath the surface.</p>

<h4>The Quiet Buildout of a Parent–Child Surveillance System in America’s Schools</h4>

When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its stay order on June 4, proponents of the App Store Accountability Act called it a major victory. This was an early victory lap for a case where the constitutional questions are far from resolved. The stay was a preliminary signal, not a final ruling. The fight was far from over.

Texas App Store Accountability Act Reaches the Supreme Court | Protecting Kids Online

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its stay order on June 4<strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">, </strong></span>proponents of the App Store Accountability Act called it a major victory. This was an early victory lap for a case where the constitutional questions are far from resolved. The stay was a preliminary signal, not a final ruling. The fight was far from over. Ten days later, that assessment was confirmed.</p>

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<h4>Texas App Store Accountability Act Reaches the Supreme Court</h4>

<p><strong>Social media bans promise to protect children by restricting access based on age</strong>. In practice, they rely on age verification, expand data collection, and shift responsibility away from parents without addressing the underlying harms online.</p>

<h2>Social Media Bans</h2>

<p><strong>Bills requiring identity verification</strong> don't just affect minors, they surveil every American. The data infrastructure these bills create serves platforms and government agencies far more than it serves families.</p>

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<h2>Age Verification for All Adults</h2>

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">Today,</strong></span><strong style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"> </strong><span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);">Meta reached a proposed settlement with a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys general </strong></span><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">over allegations that Facebook and Instagram harmed children through addictive product design and the unlawful collection of young users’ data.</strong></span></p>

<h4>Meta Settlement Replaces One Threat to Children with Another</h4>

Parents and legislators keep hearing the same reassurance: age verification technology can confirm someone is over 18 without ever revealing who they are. Age, not identity. That's the pitch behind nearly every state and federal age-verification proposal moving through statehouses right now.

The Age Verification Industry Just Told On Itself | Protecting Kids Online

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">Parents and legislators keep hearing the same reassurance: </span>age verification technology can confirm someone is over 18 without ever revealing who they are. Age, not identity. That's the pitch behind nearly every state and federal age-verification proposal moving through statehouses right now.</p>

<h4>The Age Verification Industry Just Told on Itself.</h4>

<p><strong>Age verification is just the beginning.</strong> The same infrastructure being built to verify who can download an app is the foundation for a permanent government identity layer across every digital platform. Once it exists, it will be used by government agencies, law enforcement, and the platforms themselves. A Digital ID mandate by any other name is still a Digital ID mandate.</p>

<h2> Digital ID Mandates</h2>

<p>Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz announced that the committee would mark up the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA, S.1748) on August 5th.</p>

<h4>Senate Commerce Committee Markup of the Kids Online Safety Act</h4>

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">When lawmakers passed </strong><a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/billlookup/text.aspx?LegSess=89R&amp;Bill=SB2420" style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">Texas SB 2420</strong></a><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"> in 2025, many believed they were taking a step toward protecting kids online. The promise sounded simple: verify ages, require parental approval, and keep minors away from harmful content.</strong></span></p>

<h4>What Google Just Revealed About Age‑Verification Laws and Why Parents Should Pay Attention</h4>

<p><strong>AI companions are marketed to children with no safety standards</strong>. Social media platforms are designed for engagement over well-being. And the proposed legislative "solutions" often make the surveillance problem worse, not better.</p>

<h2>AI Chatbot Compliance</h2>

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);">In K–12 classrooms, school-issued devices are collecting behavioral data</strong></span> on children with no meaningful parental consent or oversight. Most parents have no idea what their child's school is sharing or with whom.</p>

<h2> Ed-Tech &amp; School Devices</h2>

<p><strong>If you want to link an external news source,</strong> open up the accordion for this item on the sidebar and switch the Post Publishing Setting to “Custom Link”.</p>

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<p><span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);">Meta admits no wrongdoing</strong></span>, preserves the machinery behind its profits, and helps turn child safety into a mandate for age verification and digital identity.</p>

<h4>The Meta Settlement Is Not the Victory You’ve Been Sold</h4>

<p>Virginia’s<span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong> App Store Accountability Act</strong></span> study shows how lawmakers plan to rebuild parental controls and digital identity systems, not abandon them.</p>

<h4>Age Verification 2.0: The New Surveillance Model States Are Preparing for Your Kids</h4>

<h4>New Blog</h4>

A Protecting Kids Online Perspective on Expert Concerns Reported in the Journal of Medical Internet Research

Why Social Media Bans Could Backfire and What Parents Should Demand Instead | Protecting Kids Online

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">A Protecting Kids Online Perspective on Expert Concerns Reported in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.</span></p>

<h4>Why Social Media Bans Could Backfire and What Parents Should Demand Instead</h4>

The stronger version of KOSA just advanced. Learn why these “kids safety” bills expand surveillance and why parents remain the real firewall

KOSA & Surveillance Bills Advanced: Why Parents Must Push Back 

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">Today the Senate Commerce Committee advanced four bills from the so-called “kids online safety” package: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the Youth AI Privacy Act, the CHATBOT Act, and the Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act.</span></p>

<h4>Protecting Kids Online Statement on Senate Commerce Committee Advancement of the Surveillance Slate</h4>

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">Protecting Kids Online (PKO), a parent-led coalition dedicated to keeping children safe online without expanding government surveillance, is closely monitoring the Senate Commerce Committee’s markup.</strong></span></p>

<h4> Senate Commerce Committee Markup of the Kids Online Safety Act</h4>

An open letter to lawmakers, a shift to operating-system age checks, and the questions parents should be asking.

When the Adult Industry Advises on Protecting Kids

<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">An open letter to lawmakers, a shift to operating-system age checks, and the questions parents should be asking.</span></p>

<h4>When the Adult Industry Advises on Protecting Kids</h4>

<p>When lawmakers passed Texas SB 2420 in 2025, many believed they were taking a step toward protecting kids online. The promise sounded simple: verify ages, require parental approval, and keep minors away from harmful content.</p>

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<h4>Launch Event</h4>

Launch Event

<p>Data shows that age‑verification laws don’t just fail to achieve their stated goals. They create new risks, especially for children, and set the stage for even <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>more government surveillance </strong></span>and regulation.</p>

<h4>The First Real Evidence Is In: Age Verification Laws Don’t Empower Parents</h4>

<p>Discord has <a href="https://discord.com/blog/safer-for-teens-same-discord-for-adults">announced </a>a global age‑assurance system that will automatically place users into age groups and, in some cases, require verification to unlock certain features. The announcement has been widely covered, and for good reason: it’s the latest example of a trend that has been building for several years as <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>governments around the world pass laws aimed at regulating youth access to online platforms.</strong></span></p>

<h4>Discord’s Age‑Assurance System Shows How State Policies Are Building Digital‑ID Infrastructure</h4>

<p>Behind HHS's 'get outdoors' message: a coming push for <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>age verification</strong></span>. Here's what parents need to know before the next bill drops.</p>

<h4>The Surgeon General's Screen Time Symposium: What Parents Need to Know</h4>

<p>OpenAI just <a href="https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/">introduced </a>its new agent, “dots” today. The announcement arrived wrapped in a soft, playful aesthetic: bright colors, rounded shapes, and animated characters that bounce and blink as if they were designed for a children’s game. <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>The branding is unmistakably childlike. But the technology underneath is anything but.</strong></span></p>

<h4>Behind the Cute Face: The Rise of Identity‑Powered AI Agents</h4>

<p>A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows overwhelming bipartisan agreement that social media needs reform.</p>

<h4>Americans Support Social Media Regulation, But Age Verification Requires Hidden Surveillance</h4>

<p>A massive ID breach shows why <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);">age‑verification laws are dangerous</strong></span>: once kids’ data is collected, it can be stolen, sold, and never undone.</p>

<h4>The Data Breach That Proves Age Verification Is a Trap</h4>

New global data shows early smartphone access harms kids' mental health. Learn how delaying devices and building community can protect your child

Why Delaying Your Kid's Smartphone Protects Their Mind

<p>New global data shows<span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong> early smartphone access harms kids' mental health</strong></span>. Learn how delaying devices and building community can protect your child.</p>

<h4>The Data Behind What We Already Feel: Why Delaying the Phone Is the Best Gift You Can Give Your Kid</h4>

<p>Yesterday’s “16 &amp; Up” bill is being sold as a bright line for parents. The text is a “know or should have known” ban. You cannot kick under-16s off a platform without identifying who is under 16 and who isn’t. <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>That’s age verification.</strong></span> They just didn’t put it in the press release.</p>

<h4>The 16 &amp; Up Social Media Act Is a De Facto Digital ID</h4>

<p><strong>Alabama has just created one of the most expansive age‑verification and behavioral‑surveillance mandates ever imposed on a social media platform.</strong></p><p>This is bigger than a single settlement; it’s a <strong>regulatory signal</strong>, a blueprint for future legislation in Alabama and a preview of what other states may attempt next.</p>

<h4>The TikTok Settlement Is More Than a Fine; It’s a New Digital Identity System</h4>

<p>Back‑to‑school season is here, and millions of students are walking into classrooms where the school district has placed a Chromebook in every child’s hands, built the curriculum around Google Classroom, and normalized constant online engagement as part of daily learning.</p>

<h4>Schools Sue Big Tech While Requiring Kids to Use Big Tech Devices Every Day</h4>

<p>The <strong>TOTAL Screen Time Act (H.R. 9692)</strong> is being marketed as a simple, bipartisan bill to “help parents manage screen time.”</p>

<h4>PKO Analysis: Why the TOTAL Screen Time Act Fails the Digital Identity Framework</h4>

<h4>PKO Analysis: Why AB 1856 Fails the Digital Identity Framework</h4>

<p>What the <span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong>Surgeon General’s May screen advisory </strong></span>actually said, what it left out, and why September 1 matters.</p>

<h4>Parents Got Five Bullet Points. Policymakers Got a Mandate.</h4>

Protecting Kids Online is a national, non-partisan, parent-led coalition advocating for kids' online safety. We advance policies that put parents—not government databases, digital identity systems, or corporate surveillance—at the center of child online safety. We believe the strongest firewall protecting children has always been an engaged parent. Our mission is to champion child safety solutions that empower families without sacrificing the rights of every American.

Protecting Kids Online

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