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United States of America

5Rights’ work has sparked and inspired a wave of initiatives across the US for the online privacy and safety of American young people.

Contents

Overview

American companies created the internet as children know it today, and the US still hosts many of the world’s most innovative and powerful tech companies. Strengthening US regulation and working with the country’s dynamic industry ecosystem are critical to driving change for children everywhere. Across the US, more and more policy makers, regulators, children, experts and advocates are recognising the critical need for privacy and safety by design and default for children, with laws inspired by and reflecting the standards of the Age Appropriate Design Code backed by large multi-stakeholder coalitions and passing with overwhelming support.

“It is easy to feel powerless when you find out that companies like Google are using our data to sell them to third parties”

Jack, 14

Children’s experiences

The 75 million children and teens in the US are world leaders in tech consumption and ahead of the curve in experiencing its impact. An overwhelming majority of teenagers in the US report checking messages or notifications as soon as they appear, and many feel anxious when they don’t have their phones. Nearly half of US teens have been bullied or harassed online and suicide rates have continued to increase. Recently, teen girls have also had to confront a surge of deepfake nudes in schools while young boys are more and more affected by sextortions schemes.

Our work in the US

Working with a wide multi-stakeholder coalition, 5Rights is leading the charge to make the digital world safer for children in the US, raising awareness of children’s rights and international best practice. In 2022, we sponsored California’s groundbreaking Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC), which passed with unanimous support. This landmark bill has already inspired similar bills in several other states, including the Maryland Kids Code.