Op-Ed: Parents need help protecting their children online. So let’s help them
By Matt Adams
Protecting children from harm is difficult enough. Thousands of apps are making it even harder. The App Store Accountability Act (https://james.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=247) offers a federal solution to protect children online.
A parent’s fundamental duty is to ensure their child grows up in a safe, supportive environment, yet dangerous online content—too often distributed through easily downloadable apps—threatens children and families.
Kids today consistently use dozens of apps on their devices, ranging from video streaming platforms to interactive games. While most apps may be harmless, some of them contain inappropriate content that parents would never want their children to see.
With this abundance of apps and easy online access, parents are losing the ability to protect their children from unwanted content. This can happen to even the best parents.
It does not need to be this way.
By simply giving parents the ability to vet an app before a child downloads it, we can ensure parents have the tools they need totake charge of their child’s online safety.
Recently, some states have implemented common-sense, app-store-level parental approval requirements. Lawmakers in these states recognize that this issue should not be controversial. If a child wants to download an app to their device, parents should be able to review the app and determine whether it is truly appropriate for their child. It can really be that simple.
With support for these policies building in the states, Congress has an opportunity to bring this solution to the federal level and ensure parents across the country have the power to make these decisions for their families. The App Store Accountability Act, introduced by Rep. John James (R-MI) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), does just that. It ensures that major app stores create a one-stop shop for age verification and other parental approvals.
This is not difficult for large companies like Apple and Google to implement and will cost relatively little. We also do not need to sacrifice privacy or convenience. Sharing personal information with a single app store platform that already adheres to strict security standards is better than sharing it with dozens of individual apps with unknown developers.
I am optimistic about our future because there are sensible voices in Congress, like my good friend Rep. Richard Hudson, who understand the consequences of inaction. The question is not whether members of Congress understand the crisis our children face. The question is whether Congress will do something about it.
This issue ultimately comes down to our values. I believe that the values we have here in North Carolina are a model for the rest of the country. At the end of the day, it is about empowering parents to do what is best for their kids.
Parents want to do everything in their power to ensure their children are not targeted by perverse and harmful content online. The App Store Accountability Act gives them that power. Congress should pass this pro-family legislation.
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