Press Tag: Press

AB 1709 bans addictive features and feeds for under-16-year-olds. Governor Newsom proclaimed, “This is different than what Australia did. This is better than what they did.”

Design It For Us Co-Chair Nikki Iyer released the following statement:

“As young people who have urged leaders to protect our generation online, we thank Governor Newsom and Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal for their leadership. They listened to young people and acted to secure real accountability that meaningfully goes after the root cause of this problem. In 2022, we worked with California lawmakers to pass the first Age-Appropriate Design Code in the country, and Big Tech has spent every year since trying to litigate it out of existence instead of working to mitigate risk and improve young people’s experiences. Today, California’s legislators answered by turning off the addictive features and feeds designed to exploit young people. As Big Tech continues to accelerate harm to young people through their exploitative business model, we are thankful that these laws will make a real difference for California’s young people and our future.”

Background: 

• Design It For Us sent letters to the Senate Privacy, Judiciary, and Appropriations Committees urging changes and advocating for a targeted ban on addictive features and feeds.
• Design It For Us members attended a lobby day alongside partners to advocate for the passage of AB 1709.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

AB 1709 bans addictive features and feeds for under 16-year-olds 

Design It For Us Co-Chair Nikki Iyer released the following statement:

“California passed AB 1709, a landmark bill that will ban addictive features and feeds for under 16-year-olds on social media platforms. AB 1709 targets the core concerns that young people and parents have across the country: the addictive design features of social media platforms that, at the cost of our wellbeing, maximize users’ time spent online for profit. AB 1709 claws back our agency while respecting young people’s access to online spaces and community.

“We are proud of the leading role we played to help amend and advance the strongest version of this bill. We made sure the California legislature heard directly from young Californians, who urged them to change what was initially a blanket ban on minors’ access to social media to a targeted ban on addictive features and feeds. We are grateful to Assemblymember Lowenthal and his staff for their willingness to listen to our perspectives in pursuit of meaningful accountability.

“This constitutionally sound, nuanced approach preserves young people’s access to social media while effectively addressing core concerns around platform design, and we strongly encourage other states and the federal government to consider this model instead of blanket bans that likely infringe on young people’s constitutional rights. Additionally, AB 1709 is significant because it encourages platforms to establish default safeguards for all users, not just minors.

“We urge Governor Newsom to sign this bill into law and make history—as he did when he signed the California Age-Appropriate Design Code into law—reinforcing California’s leadership in protecting young people online.”

Background: 

• Design It For Us sent letters to the Senate Privacy, Judiciary, and Appropriations Committees urging changes and advocating for a targeted ban on addictive features and feeds.
• Design It For Us members attended a lobby day alongside partners to advocate for the passage of AB 1709.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Settlement Establishes Significant Steps Towards Accountability But Does Not Address Core Business Model Driving Harm

Design It For Us Co-Chair Sebastian Mahal released the following statement:

“Our movement has tirelessly pushed Meta to change the design of its products, and the outcome from today’s historic settlement will have a lasting impact. We applaud the Attorneys General who drove this fight, and we’re proud to be among the countless parents, young people, and advocates who relentlessly contribute their voices in pursuit of accountability. 

“This settlement creates a floor. When enforced, Meta will be required to put auditable guardrails around the existing product, including choice over chronological feeds and enforceable safety standards, backed by critical independent oversight paid for by Meta themselves. These are significant steps, but they could be made stronger with more consequences for failures to comply and improved design standards that are turned on by default, rather than by choice. 

“However, the provisions of this settlement still leave the product’s core engagement mechanics untouched. Meta dodged changing their business model, and they certainly dodged additional exposure through trial. While we commend that the settlement requires accountability and oversight of the company, the $17 billion settlement is merely a drop in the bucket for Meta. This is why safety-by-design approaches at the state and federal levels that address the business model—like the legislation we’ve supported in California, New Jersey, Vermont and Illinois—are so critical. Our legislators must act, and we’ll continue fighting to advance industry-wide, business model-level changes to secure lasting and wholesale accountability.” 

Design It For Us has led countless efforts to demand accountability from companies like Meta:

• Coalition member Dawson Kelly joined survivor parents and advocates outside the courtroom during the start of the trial to talk about the human cost of Meta’s dangerous and addictive products and why we deserve to have online platforms designed for young people.
• In April 2025, Design It For Us joined Parents Together and the Heat Initiative to host a rally at Meta’s headquarters in New York City. We delivered a petition of more than 10,000 signatures of young people and parents demanding meaningful accountability from Meta and Mark Zuckerberg.
• Design It For Us partnered with Accountable Tech in May 2025 to release a test of the efficacy of Meta’s Teen Accounts’ protections. In the test, youth volunteers from the coalition created test accounts and recorded their experiences using Teen Accounts over the course of two weeks. Our test accounts found that Meta’s policies did not always work, including the fact that 5 out of 5 of our test Teen Accounts were algorithmically recommended sensitive content, despite Meta’s default sensitive content controls being enabled.
• On the 1-year anniversary of the rollout of Teen Accounts in September 2025, Design It For Us advocate Alia ElKattan stood alongside Meta whistleblowers and parents in a press conference to call out Meta’s persistent refusal to be transparent and accountable to its users. 
• Design It For Us advocates wore T-shirts that read “I’m Worth More Than $270” and stood behind Mark Zuckerberg while he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 2024 hearing on child safety. The $270 number refers to a Facebook employee’s email stating that “The lifetime value of a 13 y/o teen is roughly $270 per teen.” If awarded to all 30 million children, that amounts to roughly $270 in awards per child.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Judge Brian Biedscheid orders Meta to pay $567 million, finds the company plays a “significant” role in the youth mental health crisis.

Design It For Us Co-Chair Nikki Iyer released the following statement:

“Judge Biedscheid’s ruling in New Mexico affirms what we as young people have known all along: Meta’s products have played a significant role in the youth mental health crisis. After a months-long, multiphase trial, a New Mexico court reviewed a mountain of evidence and concluded that Meta is a public nuisance to the state’s residents. For years, Meta has attempted to persuade the public that its measures to protect young people on its platforms are sufficient. But we know its protections are ineffective, and the company’s leadership evades accountability.

“With this major ruling in New Mexico, Meta will have to pay up to remedy the harms driven by its products for over a decade, including the exploitation and addiction of young people on Instagram. The order also requires Meta to, under the court’s supervision, design its products to actually be safe for young people. This ruling is a critical step in a years-long fight to hold Big Tech accountable. We hope that today’s ruling puts other Big Tech companies on notice that they are not above accountability, and that Big Tech’s era of exploitative design is coming to an end.”

In alignment with many of the principles of Design It For Us’ policy priorities, this ruling will require significant accountability measures of Meta, including: 

• Defaulting age-uncertain accounts into the highest safety settings 
• Preventing minor accounts from being recommended to adult strangers 
• Banning accounts that engage in child exploitation 
• Prohibiting its chatbots from sexualized interactions with minors
• Disabling push notifications during the night and during school hours 
• Hiding like counts by default 
• Capping the hourly usage of the product per month

Background:

• Design It For Us’ Scary Feeds: The Reality of Teen Accounts study was part of the research the Court used to assess Meta’s safety tools.
• Design It For Us’ Director of Campaigns and Policy Zamaan Qureshi testified as the Plaintiff’s final witness in the first phase of the trial.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Design It For Us Co-Chair Sebastian Mahal issued the following statement on the bipartisan passage of the New Jersey Kids Code:

“We applaud the New Jersey General Assembly for working to take on Big Tech’s exploitative business model and protect New Jersey’s young people online. The New Jersey Kids Code Act passed despite industry efforts to defeat it. Once enacted, it will become one of the strongest Age-Appropriate Design Code laws in the country, with a duty of care and a private right of action.

We are thrilled that states like New Jersey are continuing to step up in passing strong legislation targeting social media companies’ harmful design features to enact safety-by-design and privacy-by-default protections for young people. New Jersey will join California, Illinois, Maryland, Vermont, and others in passing this model of legislation. We urge Governor Sherrill to enact this law in support of New Jersey’s youth.”

Design It For Us is proud of the role we played in passing the New Jersey Kids Code. Our members and Co-Chairs testified before the legislature in Trenton, sharing their stories about what it’s like to grow up in an unregulated social media environment, and pushing back on Big Tech’s talking points as they attempted to unsuccessfully water down the bill. Design It For Us advocates met with and spoke alongside lawmakers in the General Assembly to support the bipartisan passage of the New Jersey Kids Code.” 

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Background: 

• Design It For Us members Saahir Vazirani, 17, from South Amboy, and Hanzla Ahmad, 18, testified before the Assembly Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee in support of the New Jersey Kids Code.
• Design It For Us Co-Chair Sebastian Mahal spoke at a press conference alongside survivor parents, advocates, and lawmakers in support of the New Jersey Kids Code.
• Design It For Us Co-Chair Nikki Iyer testified before the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee in support of the New Jersey Kids Code.

About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Illinois’s HB 5511 builds on social media safety bills in California, New York, and Vermont

Design It For Us Director of Campaigns and Policy Zamaan Qureshi released the following statement:

“We applaud Illinois lawmakers for standing up for Illinois’ young people by unanimously passing the Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act. For years, young people in Illinois have demanded protection from the harms of social media, and this victory is a testament to our refusal to accept the status quo. Once enacted, the Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act will require platforms to prioritize young people’s well-being over engagement, ensuring the strongest default protections for minors. Those protections are strengthened by privacy-preserving age assurance, carefully crafted to ensure age-appropriate experiences on social media without undermining privacy or agency.

Big Tech pulled out all its usual tricks: pushing for carve-outs for specific platforms, attempting to narrow the bill’s reach, and working to stall the legislative process. But those tactics were no match for the vocal demand from Illinoisans to act, and we’re grateful to Illinois lawmakers for heeding that call.

We’re proud to have worked alongside Illinois’ leaders, including Governor Pritzker and the bill sponsors, Representative Gong-Gershowitz and Senator Preston, to build upon successful frameworks we led in other states and ensure the Illinois General Assembly advanced the strongest possible provisions. This bill marks a turning point for young Illinoisans on social media, and we will keep pushing until every young person in this country has the same protections.”

Background: 

• Design It For Us testified in support of age-appropriate design language in the Illinois General Assembly.
• Design It For Us’ Zamaan Qureshi spoke to FOX32, voicing support for the bill and strengthening the provisions.
• Design It For Us has organized in Illinois for more than three years, calling upon legislators to enact strong social media and AI legislation. Design It For Us has also supported the Age-Appropriate Design Code, and recently helped to secure the passage of SB 315.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Illinois’s SB 315 builds on California’s SB 53 and New York’s RAISE Act with third-party audits.

Design It For Us Director of Campaigns and Policy Zamaan Qureshi released the following statement:

“We applaud Illinois lawmakers for standing for Illinois’s young people and enacting the strongest AI safety law in the country. This bill makes substantive progress towards much-needed transparency and accountability, strengthened by third-party audits, and builds on existing standards set by California and New York. This bill is common-sense; it requires that the largest developers operating at the frontier of AI technology develop catastrophic risk mitigation measures, publish safety plans, report serious incidents to the Attorney General and Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security, and let independent auditors check their work. 

“We’re grateful for the leadership of Rep. Didech, Sen. Edly-Allen, and the rest of the bill’s sponsors, who delivered for Illinoisans and enabled the state to lead the way in the United States when it comes to holding Big Tech to account. We’re proud of the work that our advocates and partners led to help get this bill through the legislature, and we thank Governor Pritzker for his robust support of this critical legislation.”

Background: 

• Design It For Us member Kashyap Rajesh authored an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times supporting the bill and encouraging lawmakers to sign it into law.
• Design It For Us testified in support of the bill in the Illinois General Assembly.
• Design It For Us’ Zamaan Qureshi spoke to Fox32, voicing support for the bill.
• Design It For Us advocated for and supported SB53 and the RAISE Act.

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About Design It For Us
Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Design It For Us co-chair Nikki Iyer released the following statement:

“Today, the jury listened to young people. Design It For Us applauds today’s jury verdict in K.G.M. v. Meta et al., a decision that affirms the truth of young people’s lived experiences online. This verdict is a major milestone for every young person and family whose pain has been minimized by Big Tech. Today’s decision ends an era of plausible deniability: Meta and YouTube knew their products were harming us, and now so does every legislature, parent, and young person in America.

This decision, like the decision in New Mexico, makes clear that the public sees Big Tech’s platforms for what they are: harmful by design, negligent in practice, and built without regard for the young people they harm—and the public is willing to hold Big Tech accountable. This public acknowledgement and decision are a major turning point, especially as litigation against Big Tech progresses across America, at scale.

We are deeply grateful to K.G.M. for her perseverance in speaking out and carrying this case forward. Because of her courage, Big Tech can no longer expect to evade accountability.

Exploitation is not our birthright. We are all K.G.M.”

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Teen Accounts updates build upon broken safety standards, forcing parents and teens to shoulder the full burden of Meta’s harmful product despite public claims of safety and privacy 

Design It For Us co-chair Sebastian Mahal released the following statement:

“It is simply not enough to put the onus on parents or young people to make social media safe. In fact, recent unsealed court filings show that only 0.38% of Instagram’s Teen Accounts have actually enabled parental supervision. If Meta’s parental tools are scarcely applied, this latest update from Meta is futile. Real support for young people and parents alike comes from laws requiring safety-by-design and privacy-by-default, policies that Meta has fought against in Congress and in court for years. 

“And it’s hard to overlook the timing; as Meta’s leaders stand for trial in Los Angeles, the company is rolling out another headline-friendly “safety” announcement that reads more like reputation management than a meaningful change to their underlying business model.

“This “update” demonstrates that Instagram knows its products endanger kids and enable the mass proliferation of harmful content, yet they continue to pass the responsibility off on parents and users to keep us safe. In reality, most teens will never see this “support,” but we’re the ones who will pay the price.”

Design It For Us has led countless efforts to demand accountability from companies like Meta:

• In April 2025, Design It For Us joined Parents Together and the Heat Initiative to host a rally at Meta’s headquarters in New York City. We delivered a petition of more than 10,000 signatures of young people and parents demanding meaningful accountability from Meta and Mark Zuckerberg.
• Design It For Us partnered with Accountable Tech in May 2025 to release a test of the efficacy of Meta’s Teen Accounts’ protections. In the test, youth volunteers from the coalition created test accounts and recorded their experiences using Teen Accounts over the course of two weeks. Our test accounts found that Meta’s policies did not always work, including the fact that 5 out of 5 of our test Teen Accounts were algorithmically recommended sensitive content, despite Meta’s default sensitive content controls being enabled. 
• On the 1-year anniversary of the rollout of Teen Accounts in September 2025, DIFU advocate Alia ElKattan stood alongside Meta whistleblowers and parents in a press conference to call out Meta’s persistent refusal to be transparent and accountable to its users. 

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.

Sebastian Mahal and Nikki Iyer take on Co-Chair roles to advance youth power and human-centered tech reform

Design It For Us, a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models, today announced Sebastian Mahal and Nikki Iyer as its new Co-Chairs. Their leadership represents significant growth for the organization as it continues to expand its reach and build lasting youth power to upend the status quo of Big Tech and fight for a better online world.

Sebastian Mahal is a youth organizer, advocate, and coalition builder working at the intersection of social media harms, emerging technology, and youth political power. Their organizing background spans movements for queer and trans safety, reproductive justice, gun violence prevention, and climate advocacy. As Co-Chair, Sebastian is focused on how these same systemic harms are reproduced on insufficiently regulated online platforms, turning widespread youth frustration with digital platforms into coordinated action for change. Sebastian holds degrees in political science and philosophy, with a specialization in digital ethics.

“Too often, young people are treated as passive test subjects of technology rather than stakeholders with real power,” said Mahal. “Design It For Us aims to change that and make sure the voices of young people most impacted by harmful tech are leading the fight for accountability, safety, and dignity online.”

Nikki Iyer is a third-year student at the University of California, Berkeley. As Co-Chair of Design It For Us, Nikki works to galvanize youth power by fostering greater balance, agency, and well-being among young people navigating an increasingly digital world. At Berkeley, Nikki organizes speaker series events that bring conversations about technology, culture, and politics to campus. Through her academics, Nikki studies how rhetoric around AI and social media influences our understanding of ourselves, our relationships, and the boundary between online and real life. 

“The digital age is shaping how we think, feel, and connect—and not always for the better,” said Iyer. “Young people deserve technology that supports our humanity rather than exploits our attention. I’m excited to represent Design It For Us as we push for systems that reflect those values.”

The announcement comes during a period of significant growth for Design It For Us, as the nonprofit has expanded its coalition, built up state leadership, and increased its influence at both the state and national levels. As part of this growth, founding Co-Chair Zamaan Qureshi will transition into a newly created leadership role as Director of Campaigns and Policy, where he will lead strategic advocacy efforts and spearhead the next wave of wins in all corners of the country.

With Mahal and Iyer as Co-Chairs, Design It For Us is doubling down on its commitment to youth-led leadership, intersectional advocacy, and bold solutions that challenge Big Tech’s dominance while centering human well-being.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.