West Virginia is one of dozens of states suing Meta over the harm its platforms can cause children. Our governor signed West Virginia onto that lawsuit when he was attorney general, and he was right to do so. But lawsuits can only go so far. We need meaningful protections that change what happens when our children actually use these platforms. Two bills in the U.S. Senate claim to address this problem, but only one puts the responsibility where it belongs: on the platforms themselves.
The App Store Accountability Act focuses primarily on the app store. It verifies a child’s age and requires parental consent, but once that child enters an app, the platform largely operates as it did before. The same features that were designed to capture attention, collect information, target users and keep children scrolling remain. It should come as no surprise that Meta has promoted this type of approach in statehouses across the country.
The Parents Over Platforms Act, or POPA, takes a better approach. A parent would enter a child’s age when setting up the phone, and that age information would follow the child into the apps they use. Apps then would be responsible for responding appropriately. Platforms intended for adults would have to disable harmful features for minors, including certain data collection and targeted advertising.
It is an important distinction. Instead of asking parents to navigate a maze of individual apps and settings, the technology would finally work with parents rather than against them. Parents should not be expected to carry the entire burden while billion-dollar technology companies walk away with little responsibility for what happens inside their own platforms. POPA currently has bipartisan support in the Senate, but it deserves much more.
Our senator, Shelley Moore Capito, is one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the United States Senate, and her support carries weight. When she gets behind good legislation, she can help move it forward. I hope Senator Capito will stand with parents, put responsibility back on the platforms profiting from our children’s attention, and cosponsor the Parents Over Platforms Act. Our children deserve more than another checkbox. They deserve real protection.
Kathie Hess Crouse
Delegate, District 19
Putnam County
