Below is a press release from Attorney General Lynn Fitch:
Attorney General Lynn Fitch led a bipartisan coalition of 44 Attorneys Generalto write TikTok and Snapchat this week urging them to give parents the abilityto monitor their children’s social media usage and protect their children fromonline threats using parental control apps.
“As the threats to children’s well-being have proliferated online, the market ofproducts available to parents to help monitor this space and keep it safe hasexpanded.” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who led the coalition alongwith North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein. “Many major social mediaplatforms allow parents to use parental control apps to monitor their children’scontent. It is time for Tik Tok and Snapchat to give parents this option forprotecting their children as well.”
Research increasingly demonstrates the negative impact that social media canhave on the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of children andteenagers. These range from decreased self-esteem and greater body-imagedissatisfaction to increased exposure to cyberbullying and sexualpredation. One app reported that in 2021 it had analyzed more than 3.4 billionmessages and found:
- 43.09% of tweens and 74.61% of teens were involved in a self-harm/suicidal situation,
- 68.97% of tweens and 90.73% of teens encountered nudity or content of asexual nature,
- 75.35% of tweens and 93.31% of teens engaged in conversations surrounding drugs/alcohol,
- 80.82% of tweens and 94.50% of teens expressed or experienced violent subject matter/thoughts,
- 72.09% of tweens and 85.00% of teens experienced bullying as a bully,victim, or witness.[i]
As the Attorneys General note in their letter, “Parental control apps can alert parents or schools to messages and posts on your platforms that have thepotential to be harmful and dangerous. Apps can also alert parents if theirchild manifests a desire for self-harm or suicide. On other platforms wherethese apps are allowed to operate appropriately parents have receivednotifications of millions of instances of severe bullying and hundreds ofthousands of self-harm situations, showing that these apps have the potentialto save lives and prevent harm to our youth.”
Social media platforms already engage in some content moderation andoperate under some community guidelines, but these are not always sufficientto protect children and teenagers who are particularly vulnerable to onlinethreats, especially with regard to direct messaging. Parental control appsempower parents to be full partners with the platforms to maintain a safe spaceonline for their children.
"The online world is increasingly hostile to children,” continued GeneralFitch, “and parents need whatever help they can get to protect their vulnerableloved ones. There’s no good reason not to work with parents to give themaccess to these tools for keeping their children safe.”
The letter was signed by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas,Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii,Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, NewHampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, SouthDakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia,Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Click here to read the full letter.
