Design It For Us Statement on New State Kids Social Media Bills

Following the recent passage of three new kids social media and data privacy bills in Louisiana and Connecticut, Design it For Us co-chair Zamaan Qureshi released the following statement:

“Addressing the toxic nature of social media is a critical priority, but the responsibility should lie solely with the companies whose platforms are harming young people. It’s on Big Tech to protect young people by ensuring our privacy is of utmost importance by designing their products with our input, not handing over control to parents to infringe on kids’ right to privacy.

“We’re encouraged that the Age Appropriate Design Code framework is partly being modeled in the Connecticut legislation, but it still lets the tech industry off the hook by putting the burden on parents to control their children’s online presence. Louisiana’s HB61 on the other hand follows the same misguided approach as the parental surveillance bill that has been passed in Utah. Legislators aren’t writing laws with us in mind, instead keeping us away from online spaces that we can actually benefit from if robust safety and privacy measures are in place.”