Every parent has seen the headlines about online addiction, cyberbullying and the toxic sludge on social media and the internet. We want solutions. In Washington, policymakers have struggled to pass even the most basic protections to keep children safe online.
However, elected officials in Congress promise this time is different, and they might be right. Legislators are moving a package of bills through the House of Representatives that could deliver meaningful reforms to protect kids.
There’s one problem. Thanks to Big Tech lobbying, the House’s supposed kids’ online safety package may ironically put children in greater danger.
Right now, a coalition of unlikely bedfellows is pushing the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA), a bill presented as a solution to keep children off dangerous, harmful and addictive apps and platforms by forcing app stores to verify users’ ages. On the surface, it sounds like the shield we’ve been waiting for. However, if you peel back the layers, you find a Trojan Horse designed not to protect children but to bail out Big Tech and dismantle online privacy.
The most telling indicator of a bad bill is who supports it. You might expect a “child safety” bill to be opposed by the most explicit corners of the internet. Yet, companies like Meta and Grindr have publicly thrown their weight behind the ASAA. Pornhub has even endorsed a very similar approach.
Pause and ask yourself: Why do apps that feature adult content want to influence federal legislation to ensure that accountability is held by app stores rather than their own platform?
For Facebook and other content providers, this deflection is the point. These companies know their algorithms are addictive, and that their content is dangerous. They know platforms like Instagram and Facebook are where the harm happens.
The ASAA would let these companies wash their hands of the responsibility. If a child slips through an app store’s age gate — an easy feat for a child with access to a web browser or gaming console — social media giants can shrug and point the finger at others. It is a liability shield disguised as a safety net.
To assuage these concerns, Facebook and others have bought front groups to trick legislators and families into buying into their plan. Just look at groups like Digital Childhood Alliance, a supposed family-focused nonprofit committed to combating the harms of social media, or the Digital Progress Institute, an organization that claims to hold Big Tech accountable but has openly endorsed the digital regulations preferred by social media giants. It’s a coordinated effort to shift blame, muddy the waters, and keep real accountability off the table.
There is a better path forward. In addition to the ASAA, Congress is also considering the Parents Over Platforms Act (POPA), which puts parents, not platforms, in charge of their children’s online safety. POPA requires platforms to verify ages, restrict harmful features for minors, and comply with clear, consistent safety obligations, rather than allowing companies to design their own systems or shift responsibility to app stores.
Rather than outsourcing safety to app stores or forcing parents to navigate an endless maze of weak age gates, POPA empowers families and strengthens accountability by placing responsibility directly on social media platforms where it belongs. Unlike the ASAA, which provides broad flexibility to platforms and reduces their accountability, POPA does not let Big Tech write its own rules.
When you’re on the same side as Facebook for a “child safety” bill, parents and legislators should run the other way. The App Store Accountability Act is solely about shifting blame and allowing Facebook to continue avoiding accountability.
Our children deserve a safer internet, not a federally mandated privacy invasion that acts as a bailout for Facebook.