Issue One celebrates new Vermont law to protect kids online

In response to Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signing the Age-Appropriate Design Code (S.69) into law today, a bipartisan bill with commonsense safeguards to protect children and teens from social media’s worst harms, Issue One Vice President of Advocacy Alix Fraser issued the following statement:

“We congratulate the advocates and lawmakers in Vermont for their tireless work to pass this bipartisan design code and protect children and teens. With this bill, Vermonters are creating critical safeguards for protecting kids online while harkening back to their history of being independent, resilient, and innovative to address the challenges of the 21st century. We are excited to see the passage of this bill come so soon after a similar law passed in Nebraska and call for more states to follow suit.

“A near universal majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents want state and federal legislators to play an active role in making the online information environment healthier for our youth. However, tech firms have poured $260 million into a federal lobbying blitz and repeatedly used evasive state-specific tactics to kill commonsense guardrails at the eleventh hour — undermining efforts to shield our children and our democracy from addictive and dangerous social media products.

“The Vermont Legislature demonstrates that commonsense safeguards can prevail against Big Tech’s underhanded, bad faith lobbying tactics. State and federal legislators must continue to stand up against these large social media companies to create a brighter future for our country.”

Background

Issue One has extensively supported the Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code since it was first introduced in January 2024. Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM) co-chairs, former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, delivered in-person testimony in support of the measure that year. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature and arrived on Scott’s desk on June 7th. However, five days later, he vetoed the bill as a result of an extensive state-wide Big Tech lobbying campaign. Although the House overrode the veto, the Senate was unable to do so. In 2025, Issue One and the Kids Code Coalition supported the reintroduction of the Age-Appropriate Design Code. Gephardt and former Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN) provided written testimony again urging the legislature to pass the bill.

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.