Danny Weiss
Chief Advocacy Officer, Common Sense
Big Wins in the States for Kids' Online Safety, But What Comes Next?
As Congress dithered, Common Sense helped to enact six new laws in three states, and we're not done yet.
When it comes to the critical task of passing legislation to protect kids' privacy and safety online, Congress has been shamefully stuck in neutral. While it's not time to give up on federal legislation, this year we placed a greater emphasis on passing bills in the states. Lawmakers there have been eager to act, creating an opportunity for our expertise and advocacy strategies to have a big impact. And that strategy has paid off.
Between January and June of this year alone, we helped to pass six new laws in three states and made significant progress on two of our priority bills in California, with our eye on a September deadline. In each state, we advanced bills that align with our preferred approach to protecting all kids online: strengthen privacy protections, make the internet safer and healthier by forcing companies to make changes to the way they design and operate their platforms, and continue allowing young users to access the internet for community, information, and fun.
Here's a quick rundown on the new laws, including next steps and how you can help keep up the momentum.
Our biggest win this year came in New York, where Common Sense played a leading role in passing a first of its kind law that cracks down on addictive social media feeds and also bans social media notifications between midnight and 6 a.m., when kids should be getting all-important sleep. We also helped New York pass another new law with strong data privacy protections for children and teens under 18 years old.
It's well known that New York is a tough place to pass laws, so we knew early in the campaign that it would be an uphill battle. Even so, when Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James invited us to lead a grassroots campaign to pass these bills, we jumped in with both feet. We organized our parent and teacher supporters throughout the state, held lobby days at the state Capitol in Albany, and hosted press conferences with lawmakers, state leaders, and parents. These efforts drove thousands of calls and emails into lawmakers' offices.
We did it on a shoestring budget compared with our industry opponents, who spent at least $1 million to try to stop us. We were laser-focused on winning, and we even got former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to amplify our work on social media.
On June 20, the governor signed both bills into law and invited our team to speak at the signing ceremony, next to her and the attorney general as well as our state legislative champions, Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic.
During the crowded bill signing ceremony, the room erupted in applause for our Common Sense Media New York Advisory Council member as she addressed the crowd and challenged Big Tech to hold itself accountable for protecting kids online. However, we expect company lawyers to sue New York to stop these bills, and we'll work closely with the attorney general to defend the state on behalf of New York's kids and families.
In Maryland, we worked directly with bill authors, testified before the House of Delegates and the Senate, and ultimately helped to pass a comprehensive privacy bill with strong protections for kids and teens. And we worked closely with a great coalition of advocates to pass a social media accountability bill—a modified version of California's Age-Appropriate Design Code called the Maryland Kids Code. Both bills were signed into law on May 9 by Gov. Wes Moore.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, we also testified in person before the state House and Senate and worked closely with an advocacy group, Healthier Colorado, to support a bill requiring digital citizenship education resources to be distributed throughout the state, as well as requiring that kids and teens receive informational pop-up notifications after they've been using social media apps for more than an hour at a time. And we joined forces with privacy advocates to strengthen youth privacy protections in Colorado's already robust consumer privacy law. The privacy bill was signed into law on May 31, and the social media bill was signed into law on June 6 by Gov. Jared Polis.
So, what comes next?
While we will continue to press Congress for action, our top state priority for the rest of this summer is to finish what we started in California. Working alongside state lawmakers, we wrote and advanced two priority bills, and there are several other bills that we strongly support, all to make the internet healthier and safer for kids and teens. One of our priority bills would amend California's privacy law, which we helped to enact in 2018, to protect minors' data privacy from artificial intelligence. The other priority bill would stiffen financial penalties against social media companies if it is proven in court that their features negligently harmed kids.
These top two bills have passed the Assembly and the Senate Judiciary Committee. On August 5, they will get a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee and hopefully go from there to the full Senate floor. We have until the end of August to pass these bills and convince Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign them.
Research, both our own and work done by others, makes it clear that addictive social media and data collection on kids is harmful to young people's health. That's not to say that the internet isn't helpful, important, and fun for kids and teens—we know it is. But companies must be forced by the states, and by Congress, to design and operate their products ethically and responsibly. That's why we do the work we do. Without new laws, more kids will suffer from the harms we know exist, like declines in mental health and increased distractibility, or tragically, even worse fates.
It's been a successful year so far, but there is more to do. We've asked you to call, email, and contribute money to support our efforts, and we will need to keep asking for your help. We are up against well-connected opponents with deep pockets, but we won't back down or take a pause. If you haven't signed up to receive advocacy updates from Common Sense, please do so today! Thanks to you and other supporters, our advocacy efforts are making a difference in the well-being of kids and teens.
Have questions about any of these new laws, or want to learn more about how you can help? Write to us at [email protected].
When it comes to the critical task of passing legislation to protect kids' privacy and safety online, Congress has been shamefully stuck in neutral. While it's not time to give up on federal legislation, this year we placed a greater emphasis on passing bills in the states. Lawmakers there have been eager to act, creating an opportunity for our expertise and advocacy strategies to have a big impact. And that strategy has paid off.
Between January and June of this year alone, we helped to pass six new laws in three states and made significant progress on two of our priority bills in California, with our eye on a September deadline. In each state, we advanced bills that align with our preferred approach to protecting all kids online: strengthen privacy protections, make the internet safer and healthier by forcing companies to make changes to the way they design and operate their platforms, and continue allowing young users to access the internet for community, information, and fun.
Here's a quick rundown on the new laws, including next steps and how you can help keep up the momentum.
Our biggest win this year came in New York, where Common Sense played a leading role in passing a first of its kind law that cracks down on addictive social media feeds and also bans social media notifications between midnight and 6 a.m., when kids should be getting all-important sleep. We also helped New York pass another new law with strong data privacy protections for children and teens under 18 years old.
It's well known that New York is a tough place to pass laws, so we knew early in the campaign that it would be an uphill battle. Even so, when Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James invited us to lead a grassroots campaign to pass these bills, we jumped in with both feet. We organized our parent and teacher supporters throughout the state, held lobby days at the state Capitol in Albany, and hosted press conferences with lawmakers, state leaders, and parents. These efforts drove thousands of calls and emails into lawmakers' offices.
We did it on a shoestring budget compared with our industry opponents, who spent at least $1 million to try to stop us. We were laser-focused on winning, and we even got former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to amplify our work on social media.
On June 20, the governor signed both bills into law and invited our team to speak at the signing ceremony, next to her and the attorney general as well as our state legislative champions, Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic.
During the crowded bill signing ceremony, the room erupted in applause for our Common Sense Media New York Advisory Council member as she addressed the crowd and challenged Big Tech to hold itself accountable for protecting kids online. However, we expect company lawyers to sue New York to stop these bills, and we'll work closely with the attorney general to defend the state on behalf of New York's kids and families.
In Maryland, we worked directly with bill authors, testified before the House of Delegates and the Senate, and ultimately helped to pass a comprehensive privacy bill with strong protections for kids and teens. And we worked closely with a great coalition of advocates to pass a social media accountability bill—a modified version of California's Age-Appropriate Design Code called the Maryland Kids Code. Both bills were signed into law on May 9 by Gov. Wes Moore.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, we also testified in person before the state House and Senate and worked closely with an advocacy group, Healthier Colorado, to support a bill requiring digital citizenship education resources to be distributed throughout the state, as well as requiring that kids and teens receive informational pop-up notifications after they've been using social media apps for more than an hour at a time. And we joined forces with privacy advocates to strengthen youth privacy protections in Colorado's already robust consumer privacy law. The privacy bill was signed into law on May 31, and the social media bill was signed into law on June 6 by Gov. Jared Polis.
So, what comes next?
While we will continue to press Congress for action, our top state priority for the rest of this summer is to finish what we started in California. Working alongside state lawmakers, we wrote and advanced two priority bills, and there are several other bills that we strongly support, all to make the internet healthier and safer for kids and teens. One of our priority bills would amend California's privacy law, which we helped to enact in 2018, to protect minors' data privacy from artificial intelligence. The other priority bill would stiffen financial penalties against social media companies if it is proven in court that their features negligently harmed kids.
These top two bills have passed the Assembly and the Senate Judiciary Committee. On August 5, they will get a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee and hopefully go from there to the full Senate floor. We have until the end of August to pass these bills and convince Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign them.
Research, both our own and work done by others, makes it clear that addictive social media and data collection on kids is harmful to young people's health. That's not to say that the internet isn't helpful, important, and fun for kids and teens—we know it is. But companies must be forced by the states, and by Congress, to design and operate their products ethically and responsibly. That's why we do the work we do. Without new laws, more kids will suffer from the harms we know exist, like declines in mental health and increased distractibility, or tragically, even worse fates.
It's been a successful year so far, but there is more to do. We've asked you to call, email, and contribute money to support our efforts, and we will need to keep asking for your help. We are up against well-connected opponents with deep pockets, but we won't back down or take a pause. If you haven't signed up to receive advocacy updates from Common Sense, please do so today! Thanks to you and other supporters, our advocacy efforts are making a difference in the well-being of kids and teens.
Have questions about any of these new laws, or want to learn more about how you can help? Write to us at [email protected].
Danny Weiss is Chief Advocacy Officer at Common Sense. In this role, he oversees all advocacy and public policy operations. He brings nearly three decades of service on Capitol Hill, most recently as chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Danny first joined Common Sense in 2015 and returned again in 2020, and has led efforts to close the digital divide, protect children's online data privacy, hold tech companies accountable for online harms to kids and teens, and expand access to programs that lift children out of poverty, like the expanded Child Tax Credit. In his spare time, he likes cook dinner and play percussion.