Kids and Tech and the New Admin

A recent round-up of writings

There has been a lot to keep track of in the news the last few weeks. But what I personally have been paying the closest attention to are the potential opportunities the new Administration has for better protecting America’s children online. I have written a few recent pieces both underscoring the necessity for stronger actions to push digital technologies out of childhood, as well examining a few specific agencies and policies that could help toward that end. In case you missed, I will briefly recap them here:

• On Monday, The Wall Street Journal published my letter to the editor in response to a deeply misleading piece on Feb. 1: "Stop Panicking Over Teens and Social Media." You can read my full letter here. I end it by writing, “Setting aside the scientific debates, let’s focus on common sense and observation. If you walk into a high school today, you will see kids hunched over screens, not talking to one another. Many cafeterias and school buses are similarly quiet. Such stark dynamics require significant corrections. Social media age-restrictions and bans on smartphones during the school day are needed. And delaying smartphones for children is the right answer.”

• Turning to more specific ideas for the new Administration, in light of the news of potential action to dismantle the Department of Education, I wrote an opinion piece for Newsweek on Friday explaining that “one largely overlooked factor is the massive impact that closing the Department of Education could have on student privacy, which the department has so far failed to protect under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Rather than preserving a failing federal system, a potential reorganization of the Department of Education presents a critical opportunity to put the power to protect student data back where it belongs: with families and states that are already stepping up to protect kids in schools.” Read it in full here.

• I also wrote last week in the Daily Signal a piece called “America’s Families Need a Strong Federal Trade Commission Under Trump,” in which I explain, “One of the greatest threats facing the parent-child relationship today comes through smartphones and social media, Big Tech’s digital products, that have taken over childhood and family life. One government agency in particular, the Federal Trade Commission, could be leveraged by the Trump administration to play a pivotal role in protecting childhood and family relationships from the intrusion of Big Tech companies. Parents need this help.” I offer a few specific suggestions, like the FTC using the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to bring lawsuits against social media platforms for recruiting and forming accounts with minors under the age of 13, in violation of that law, and utilizing the unfair and deceptive trade practices section of its statute (the FTC Act) to investigate and potentially bring actions against tech companies who unlawfully engage in targeted advertising to children, deceptively rate their apps as appropriate for children, circumvent parental controls to collect data on kids, or deceive parents about the addictive nature of their products. I conclude with the good news that Trump has appointed strong commissioners to lead the FTC that are “eager to stand with parents to ameliorate the concerns caused by unregulated digital markets.”

• And lastly, two weeks ago in First Things, I examined what the potential sale or ban of TikTok could mean for protecting kids. Read the piece in full here. I concluded, “The question now is: Will a U.S. company turn its own children into dopamine addicts? Will TikTok’s digital fentanyl be any safer if the supplier is a U.S. company, rather than Chinese? Though national security concerns have been removed, the app’s design and content will likely prove to be just as deadly to our children if TikTok doesn’t change its practices. Thus, if the Trump administration is going to help negotiate a sale rather than ban the app altogether, it should use the full force of its authority to put pressure on any buyer to change these harmful aspects of the app. America’s children—our future leaders—depend on it.”

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Upcoming Event:

“Dignity and Dynamism: The Future of Conservative Technology Policy” Monday, February 24, 2025 | 11:10 AM to 2:00 PM ET at AEI

If you are interested in hearing more about the potential future of conservative technology policy, I will be speaking on a panel at an event on that topic hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Monday, February 24. You can register to attend either in-person in DC or online here and also see the full agenda. Hope you will tune in or join us!

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And if you missed it, I revealed the cover for my forthcoming book, The Tech Exit, here last week:

Please share with your friends and thank you for following!