California Voters Demand Tech Regulations To Protect Children
By Anika Dandekar and Bella Kumar and Sabrina Jacobs
Social media users are becoming younger than ever. With the pandemic, hours spent on social media by children have gone through the roof. New polling by Data for Progress and Accountable Tech reveals that large majorities of voters and parents across California are concerned by Big Tech’s business practices around child users, and believe platforms are unsafe for children. We find that 90 percent of California voters support the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which would require Big Tech to provide much stronger protections for children on their platforms.
California Voters Are Concerned for Children’s Safety on Tech Platforms
Seventy-one percent of California voters, including 70 percent of parents, believe that social media platforms are unsafe for children.
Additionally, 84 percent of California voters believe that, in general, the internet is unsafe for children.
Large technology corporations have been found to use unsavory practices, including leaking data, tracking online activity, and spreading misinformation. We find that California voters are very concerned about these practices. Among voters:
76 percent are very concerned about large technology corporations sharing children’s data with third parties
75 percent are very concerned about large technology corporations allowing contact between children and unknown adults
66 percent are very concerned about large technology corporations recommending harmful content, like about self harm or suicide
64 percent are very concerned about large technology corporations recommending hateful content or false information
62 percent are very concerned about large technology corporations making products addictive for children
61 percent are very concerned about large technology corporations tracking children's online activity
California Voters Believe Lawmakers and Big Tech Need to Do More to Protect Children Online
We found that 82 percent of California voters believe large tech companies need to do more to protect children online, including 85 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans, and 77 percent of Independents.
Mandatory protections are common in the pharmaceutical, auto, and food industries. In order to keep children safe while using the internet and social media, 87 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of Republicans, and 77 percent of Independents agree that mandatory protections should also be necessary by law. Only 10 percent of California voters believe that mandatory protections would be an unnecessary government regulation.
California has proposed a bill that would make mandatory protections a reality. The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act would require technology companies to turn on the highest privacy settings when they identify a child user, limit their collection of children’s data, and consider the best interests of children when designing a product.
The bipartisan bill is supported by 90 percent of California voters. It is also supported by over three-quarters of voters across parties, including Democrats by a +91-point margin, Republicans by a +80-point margin, and Independents by a +72-point margin. It is supported by 85 percent of parents as well.
The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act will help lead the way in protecting children on the internet and hold technology companies accountable for keeping young users safe while using their products.
Anika Dandekar (@AnikaDandekar) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Bella Kumar is a communications intern at Data for Progress.
Sabrina Jacobs is a digital fellow at Data for Progress.