Connect x Protect believes young people deserve age-appropriate online spaces where they can connect safely while protecting their privacy. This campaign amplifies the voices of parents and kids to demand policymakers find solutions that protect kids online in a way that preserves privacy and makes the internet safer for everyone.
Protect Teens. Preserve Privacy.
Parents shouldn’t have to choose between online safety and privacy.
Kids deserve both.
- We advocate for a safer internet for kids — one where young people can benefit from the connected world without sacrificing their privacy or the security of their personal data.
- We push back on flawed policies that present a false choice between safety and privacy and rely on ineffective measures like age-verification checks that expose sensitive data and ignore the risks kids encounter on web browsers, consoles, and desktops.
- We believe that we can keep kids connected and protected — we educate and empower families by translating the complicated proposals before policymakers into clear, transparent guidance and advocate for better solutions that include privacy and security at their core.
- We seek a practical path — a safer digital ecosystem with shared responsibility and smarter solutions. Through research, collaboration, and clear communication, we help families and policymakers understand what effective online safety looks like — without sacrificing kidsʼ privacy, security, or well-being.
What We're Reading
- The Confidential Payments Meta and TikTok Made to Addicted TeensThe world’s biggest social media companies have reached a dozen confidential settlements in recent months with teen plaintiffs over claims the platforms damaged their mental health. The payouts were secret, but Bloomberg Businessweek has learned that most ranged from $2 million to $2.5 million.
- Access for a Purpose: What Parents Can Do About Kids and the Internet (Blog post)Most apps, games and websites are built for adults. Parents are left trying to remove the features and content a child shouldn’t have. When a child goes online, other people and companies can reach them. They can contact the child, influence what the child does and collect information about them. The two biggest dangers that come from this are addictive algorithms, and strangers who can message children directly, including through the chat in many games.
- The Problem With Trying to Age-Gate the Entire InternetGovernments around the world are increasingly turning to age gates to protect children from potentially harmful content and experiences online. Australia’s nationwide social media restrictions for children under 16 are part of a much broader push for age verification, with lawmakers and regulators in the U.K., European Union, and many U.S. states considering or implementing similar requirements.
- Child Safety Is Way Too Important To Be Left To LawmakersRaising children is one of the most challenging of life’s many challenging functions. That’s arguably why raising children is so fulfilling. Which is why legislators on the state and national levels should think seriously before backing the App Store Child Protection Act (ASCPA).
Updates
- 2026 State Legislative Recap: Youth Online Safety & Age VerificationAs 2026 state sessions closed, lawmakers continued to debate bills claiming to protect kids online but could require families to share more personal information just to use everyday apps and websites. These proposals raise real privacy and security concerns that would impact everyone, not just kids.
- When Age Verification Goes WrongHow Some Bills Could Backfire for Real Families – Everyone agrees: kids and teens deserve safer online spaces. But some age verification proposals could create new risks while promising protection.
- Virtual Panel on Digital SafetyEpisode 1 (Digital Safety): Connect x Protect executive director Terry Samuel interviews Shane Tews of the American Enterprise Institute, Ben Gillenwater, The Family IT Guy and Dr. Joseph South, an education innovation specialist at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education.
The internet is where we live much of our lives.
For kids and teens, it is how they learn and grow, communicate and build community.They deserve an internet that is as safe as it is exciting.
