In early 2022, when I was writing the final chapter of Technology’s Child, I observed that the United States was way behind other countries when it came to regulating the tech industry. The UK had enacted the Children’s Code, Australia had the Online Safety Act, and the EU was about to pass the Digital Services Act. I stated: “With any luck, meaningful legislation will be passed in the U.S. by the time this book is published.”
I said “with any luck” because I believe that government regulation is needed. Tech companies cannot be counted on to regulate themselves for the simple fact that their market-driven incentives cannot be counted on to align with children’s well-being.
Since I wrote that last chapter, state governors, such as in California and Utah, have signed bills into law that attempt to hold tech companies accountable for the effects their products have on children. Legislation at the federal level, however, has yet to pass. We might be getting close, though.
On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Kids Online Safety Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would require tech companies to adopt a “duty of care” when it comes to the well-being of their young users.1Technically, it was a reintroduction of the bill. The press release from Senator Blackburn’s office states: “The bill requires social media platforms to put the well-being of children first, ensuring an environment that is safe by default.”
I love the concept of safe by default. It recognizes something I stress throughout Technology’s Child: technology design matters (see key insight #2 here). The defaults that tech companies currently employ—things like lax privacy settings, the automatic linking of accounts, algorithmically curated feeds, and autoplay—are geared toward keeping people engaged, not looking out for their well-being. What if tech companies made well-being the default instead?
The DETOUR Act2The DETOUR Act was first introduced by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), who has also endorsed the Kids Online Safety Act. is another piece of proposed federal legislation that seeks to hold tech companies accountable for the impact of their manipulative designs, also known as “dark patterns.” In my public endorsement of the bill, I stated: “As a developmental scientist, I’m hopeful that the DETOUR Act will encourage companies to adopt a child-centered approach to design that places children’s well-being front and center, reducing the burden on parents to look out for and avoid dark patterns in their children’s technology experiences.”3Speaking of placing a burden on parents, I’m concerned that the Utah bill does just that by requiring parental permission for teens to use social media.
Note my use of the word “hopeful.” If we do see the passage of federal legislation in the U.S., I’ll still have concerns. One of my biggest concerns: How will tech companies prove that they’re looking out for children’s well-being and, perhaps more to the point, how will they prove that their efforts are working?4Another concern I have is how tech companies will address a possible future where there are a bunch of piecemeal, potentially conflicting state laws spread across the country.
This question is currently front and center in the research I’m conducting with my collaborators at the University of Washington. We’re seeking to link specific social media designs to specific well-being outcomes in teens. Our goal is to identify signals that can help detect when things are going well or not so well for teens as they engage with different social media platforms. With any luck, our work will one day help determine whether tech companies are meeting their obligation to prioritize children’s well-being.
Notes:
- 1Technically, it was a reintroduction of the bill.
- 2The DETOUR Act was first introduced by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), who has also endorsed the Kids Online Safety Act.
- 3Speaking of placing a burden on parents, I’m concerned that the Utah bill does just that by requiring parental permission for teens to use social media.
- 4Another concern I have is how tech companies will address a possible future where there are a bunch of piecemeal, potentially conflicting state laws spread across the country.
