Issue One applauds Nebraska for leading the charge to keep kids safe online

In response to the recent news that Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed the recently-passed Age Appropriate Design Code, a bipartisan bill containing a set of meaningful safeguards for children and teens online, Issue One Vice President of Advocacy Alix Fraser issued the following statement:

“Large social media companies have purposefully designed products that addict and harm children. As an unprecedented youth mental health crisis continues to grow, a near universal majority of Americans from across party lines want to create a healthier online information environment for our children and teens. Now, states are stepping up to protect children with Age Appropriate Design Codes — which include safeguards to stop the collecting or selling their data, default to high privacy standards, and prohibit manipulative design choices.

“States are once again proving that they can still be laboratories of democracy and find innovative solutions to tackle the societal challenges of the 21st century. These are important victories in the fight to reform technology for our kids and our democracy. We congratulate all the advocates in Nebraska and urge other states to follow suit and continue advancing bipartisan design codes.

“We must also recognize how far we have to go. Social media companies have spent more than a quarter billion dollars in recent years at the federal and state levels and used sophisticated forms of sabotage to do whatever is necessary to stop any legislation that would hold them accountable for their dangerous business practices. This must change if we are to build a better future for America’s children and our democracy.”

Background

Issue One supported the Nebraska Age Appropriate Design Code by submitting written testimony from former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and former Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN). Issue One has worked extensively at the state level — through testimony, advocacy, and coalition building — to advance bipartisan data privacy and kids online safety legislation.