Safeguard Children from App Store Dangers

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Safeguard Our Youth: Support Stronger Online Protections with App Store Age Verification & Device Filters

As technology continues to advance and change, it has become increasingly difficult for parents and guardians to keep their children safe online.

App Store Accountability legislation will simplify digital safeguards for parents and guardians so they can rest comfortably knowing their child is enjoying a safe and age-appropriate experience on their devices. This bill requires parental consent to download applications or make in-app purchases on a minor’s phone, which will help protect children from material that parents and guardians have approved of. It will also require accurate app ratings from developers, clarifying the content of apps. We cannot rely on social media and big tech companies to protect our children.

App Store Accountability Legislation will prevent the need for families to implement spotty and ineffective protections on an app-by-app basis. Instead, it targets the root of the problem which is applications lacking sufficient protection for minors using their platforms. Our children deserve to enjoy and learn from their devices without the risk of obscene or inappropriate content on their devices.

Take action now to protect children at the App Store level! Ask for your legislator’s support for App Store Accountability legislation to ensure safe devices for America's children!

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Having trouble taking action? You can contact your Representative directly here. Feel free to use the email template below:

I am a constituent writing to urge your support of App Store Accountability legislation, something many states are considering as an effective way to safeguard children from harmful content that they may be exposed to through apps.

As parents know, children are often exposed to harmful content through the apps they download, which are often inaccurately rated and can connect children to other users who may cause harm. App Store Accountability legislation has three main goals:

Requires parental consent for any app download or in-app purchase made on a minor's phone.

Creates transparency by requiring accurate age ratings on apps from developers.

Gives parents and the attorney general the ability to pursue civil recourse if app stores cause injury to their children by violating the bill

By requiring app stores to provide accurate age-ratings and request parental consent for a minor to download an app from their platform, this bill substantially reduces the risk that children will access inappropriate and harmful content on their devices.

Social media platforms and games that are downloaded through the app store increasingly feature content that is not appropriate for minors, despite marketing their products for them. It is time to give parents the tools they need to ensure that their children are not consuming obscene content as it continues to spread.

Our children need decisive action from you. Please, we ask that you be a leader and advocate for our children!

I encourage you to reach out to info@digitalchildhoodalliance.org to learn more and discuss model legislation.