WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — More than 50 child advocacy organizations have joined forces to form the Digital Childhood Alliance to urge lawmakers to help parents protect their children online by passing commonsense legislation. The coalition is calling for the passage of the App Store Accountability Act across the country. The coalition represents a broad consensus among experts, parent advocates, and child protection groups who see this bill as critical for online youth safety.
“This is a turning point,” said Dawn Hawkins, senior advisor to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). “For years, app stores have turned a blind eye to child safety, allowing kids to download apps, enter into exploitative contracts they don’t understand, and share personal data—all without parental consent. Lawmakers now have a clear path forward, backed by a coalition of experts who agree: The App Store Accountability Act is vital to creating a safer online environment for American youth.”
A Unified Push for Reform
The launch of this coalition comes at a critical moment, as momentum builds in multiple states for app store youth safety. The App Store Accountability Act is advancing in Utah and Alabama right now, with bills also introduced in Alaska, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Hawaii. Several other states are expected to introduce similar legislation in the coming months.
“The time for action is now,” said Melissa McKay, a device and online safety expert. “Nearly 90% of teens use an iPhone, yet Apple treats child safety as an afterthought. The company that sets the standard for innovation refuses to apply the same functional elegance to its protections for kids, burying ineffective tools under layers of menus while profiting from children’s easy access to predatory apps. Apple has the power to lead on child safety but chooses inaction, leaving children unprotected in a digital world designed to exploit them.”
The coalition is urging lawmakers across the country to move swiftly to pass the bill and end the widespread exploitation of children by app stores.
Provisions of the App Store Accountability Act
The App Store Accountability Act is designed to restore parental oversight, improve transparency, and hold app stores accountable for misleading families. It introduces three key reforms:
“App stores are exposing children to risks while hiding the fine print,” said Michael Toscano, Executive Director of the Institute for Family Studies. “Children can download a video chat app that connects them with strangers while sharing their exact location, an online pharmacy that sells medications, or a payment platform – use it for a few hours, delete it, and their parents would never know. This bill closes that loophole. It is time to enact common-sense legislation to protect children.”
A Moment for Lawmakers to Step Up
Despite increasing public concern about children’s exposure to harmful content online, app stores have largely escaped scrutiny despite their centrality to everything that goes on across the digital landscape.
“The App Store Accountability Act brings us closer to a future where digital gatekeepers are held to the same standards as any responsible institution,” said Joel Thayer, President of the Digital Progress Institute. “Imagine if a bank let 14-year-olds take out high-interest loans, sign up for investment schemes, or connect with foreign business partners, while hiding the risks from parents. That would be unthinkable. But in the digital world, this is exactly what’s happening every day. It’s past time to hold app stores accountable.”
With bipartisan support and growing momentum, the coalition is calling on lawmakers to prioritize child safety and pass the App Store Accountability Act without delay.
Digital Childhood Alliance members:
3Strands Global Foundation
A Butterfly Gets Her Wings Back LLC
Addo Recovery-Washington
All Girls Allowed, Inc.
American Principles Project
American Youth Association
ANEW Life International
Better Screen Time
Better Tech Project
Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition
Bowman Therapeutics
Breaking Generational Cycles
Chains Interrupted
CORAFID Centre for Innovation and Research
Defend Young Minds
Digital Progress Institute
Dr. Jill Manning, PLLC
Elijah Rising
Family Policy Alliance
Greenway Recovery
Guided Purposes, LLC
Hannah’s Hope
Heritage Foundation
Hookers For Jesus
Innocence en Danger – Sellier
KIDS TOO
Kingdom Forerunners
Lynn’s Warriors
National Center on Sexual Exploitation
NC Stop Human Trafficking
No Trafficking Zone
Nurses United Against Human Trafficking
Parents Who Fight
Paving the Way Foundation
Protect Young Eyes
Refuge for Women Chicago
Restore the Child, PLLC
Runaway Girl
Scrolling 2 Death
Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP)
Street Grace
Survivor Leader Network of San Diego
The Hope Foundation
The Institute for Family Studies
The Stop Trafficking Project®
Tin Man Ministries
Trafficking in America Task Force
Transformation Garden
Unto You & to Your Children/Revelation & Restoration
Vessels of Mercy International, Inc.
Walk Her Home
Yellowstone Human Trafficking Task Force
Zoe Ministries of Delaware
To learn more about the Digital Childhood Alliance, please visit www.digitalchildhoodalliance.org
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SOURCE Digital Childhood Alliance
