Connect x Protect believes young people deserve age-appropriate online spaces where they can connect safely while protecting their privacy. This campaign amplifies the voices of parents and kids to demand policymakers find solutions that protect kids online in a way that preserves privacy and makes the internet safer for everyone.
Protect Teens. Preserve Privacy.
Parents shouldn’t have to choose between online safety and privacy.
Kids deserve both.
- We advocate for a safer internet for kids — one where young people can benefit from the connected world without sacrificing their privacy or the security of their personal data.
- We push back on flawed policies that present a false choice between safety and privacy and rely on ineffective measures like age-verification checks that expose sensitive data and ignore the risks kids encounter on web browsers, consoles, and desktops.
- We believe that we can keep kids connected and protected — we educate and empower families by translating the complicated proposals before policymakers into clear, transparent guidance and advocate for better solutions that include privacy and security at their core.
- We seek a practical path — a safer digital ecosystem with shared responsibility and smarter solutions. Through research, collaboration, and clear communication, we help families and policymakers understand what effective online safety looks like — without sacrificing kidsʼ privacy, security, or well-being.
What We're Reading
- The World’s Growing Patchwork of Age Bans and What It RevealsNew York University professor Jonathan Haidt’s proposal for an under-16 ban in his 2024 best-selling book, The Anxious Generation, drew widespread attention. Australia’s first-of-its-kind social media ban for children under 16 went into effect nearly a year ago. Now, policymakers around the world are considering social media age restrictions.
- Are Age-Verification Laws Protecting Children…or Just Arming Hackers?Age verification laws have transformed from regional experiments to widespread policy. Following the global precedent set by Louisiana’s State Bill 162 and the UK’s Online Safety Act, more than half of US states have implemented aggressive laws that restrict free internet access. These laws are aimed at protecting children from accessing adult content. However, such measures have yet to prove effective, come at the cost of your data and privacy, and may have side effects that harm marginalized groups. With frequent breaches and data leaks, the move to require even more personal information to browse the web is questionable at best.
- Appeals Court Finds Florida’s Law Restricting Social Media Can Be EnforcedWashington – The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Florida’s HB3, restricting access to social media for teens, can be enforced ahead of the First Amendment issues being fully heard in federal court. The Court made this determination in a decision issued today reversing and vacating a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the law.
- To Comply with its Settlement, Meta Will Have to Age-Verify EveryoneIn our last post, we discussed how Meta is now legally obligated to restrict what teens may see on Facebook and Instagram. And in order to comply with those obligations, Meta must know which users are teens; that requires age assurance. Within a year, Meta must apply an age assurance method to every Facebook and Instagram user in the states that participated in the settlements, sorting users as under 13, ages 13 through 17, or over 18.
Updates
- 2026 State Legislative Recap: Youth Online Safety & Age VerificationAs 2026 state sessions closed, lawmakers continued to debate bills claiming to protect kids online but could require families to share more personal information just to use everyday apps and websites. These proposals raise real privacy and security concerns that would impact everyone, not just kids.
- When Age Verification Goes WrongHow Some Bills Could Backfire for Real Families – Everyone agrees: kids and teens deserve safer online spaces. But some age verification proposals could create new risks while promising protection.
- Virtual Panel on Digital SafetyEpisode 1 (Digital Safety): Connect x Protect executive director Terry Samuel interviews Shane Tews of the American Enterprise Institute, Ben Gillenwater, The Family IT Guy and Dr. Joseph South, an education innovation specialist at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education.
The internet is where we live much of our lives.
For kids and teens, it is how they learn and grow, communicate and build community.They deserve an internet that is as safe as it is exciting.
