Family Council Joins Letter Urging Senate Leaders to Protect Kids Online
On Thursday, Family Council joined a letter urging leaders in the U.S. Senate to protect children online.
Most teens and young adults are extremely active online. The U.S. Surgeon General says 95% of American teenagers use social media, and about one-third say they use it “almost constantly.” But parents, policymakers, and pundits have raised concerns about the harm that Big Tech can do to kids.
In March, juries in New Mexico and Los Angeles found Facebook and Instagram’s owner, Meta, liable for harming children’s mental health and concealing what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. In June, Reuters reported that Meta had begun lobbying Congress for special immunity from child-harm lawsuits during debate on the Kids Online Safety Act.
Apparently, instead of protecting children, Big Tech would rather avoid accountability.
On Thursday, Family Council joined other pro-family leaders from across the country in a letter urging U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee to be sure federal legislation upholds parental rights and protects children online.
The letter calls on the committee to protect children from addictive technology and reject any proposal to shield tech companies from accountability, writing:
When an addictive or potentially hazardous substance like alcohol, tobacco, or nicotine is in a product, we assist parents by prohibiting marketing of those products to children. In these ways, we require those who are designing, manufacturing, and marketing the product to assist parents, and we hold accountable those who hide known information about potential harm arising from their product. This same principle must apply to the most ubiquitous and addictive products on today’s market . . . Any measure advanced by the committee should build on state efforts to protect children, and any demand to grant preemptive immunity for emerging technology (especially generative AI) in exchange for ratifications of protections on other technologies should be emphatically rejected.
Time and again, we have seen examples of just how harmful social media and artificial intelligence can be for users — especially children.
Social media giant TikTok has found itself embroiled in controversies over its failure to protect private user data from entities in China — including the Chinese Communist Party. In May of 2025, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined TikTok $600 million for unlawfully transferring European user data to China.
The platform also has been accused of serving users a steady “diet of darkness” and violating laws intended to protect children online.
Late last year, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a strongly worded letter to major AI developers, calling for real safeguards that protect kids.
In a statement, Kobach highlighted a Topeka case in which a sexual predator used AI to create thousands of images depicting child abuse.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has actually sued Facebook and Instagram’s owner, Meta, in state court for endangering children.
The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office has alleged that platforms like Facebook and Instagram are built around algorithms intentionally designed “to exploit human psychology and foster addiction to maximize users’ screen time.” The A.G. says this exploitation is especially harmful for young users with developing brains.
It’s worth pointing out that people believe children deserve protection when it comes to social media.
A recent survey from the Pew Research Center shows most Americans support banning children under 16 from using social media altogether.
Social media and AI platforms are multibillion dollar industries, and the adults who own and profit from these companies have a responsibility to protect their users.
Children deserve proactive protection online. The Arkansas Legislature and Arkansas Attorney General’s office have worked hard to give children that kind of protection. Our federal policymakers need to do their part to as well.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
