Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up a series of kids’ online safety bills limiting young people’s autonomy and internet access.
Many of these bills – including “Sammy’s Law” and the “App Store Accountability Act” – shift responsibility for product safety from the very platforms designing unsafe products onto families. Additionally, the House version of these bills, namely the ...
The strongest version of this narrative is that Congress is prioritizing a misguided approach to online safety—one that burdens families and restricts access rather than holding platforms accountable for harmful design choices. Public Knowledge’s critique is principled: it acknowledges a few positive elements in the legislative package while systematically dismantling the premise that surveillance or access restrictions are the solution. The argument gains credibility by focusing on structural i...