Kids and teens deserve online platforms designed for them.

Every day children are using a digital world that is designed by and for adults, where they are nudged to give up their privacy, addicted and deceived by designs meant to keep them online longer, and exposed to risky contacts and behaviors. While we test cribs and car seats and put nutrition labels on foods, the internet has never had product safety testing for children and teens, despite the overwhelming evidence that social media is addictive and harmful to kids. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Bold landmark legislation in the Age Appropriate Design Code, otherwise known as the “Kids Code,” is a consumer protection bill that requires common sense practices of privacy and safety from the start to ensure that the digital world where kids play is designed age appropriately.

The Age Appropriate Design Code has been in effect in the UK for two years and has compelled Big Tech to change the designs of their products to put kids’ best interests first. The legislation has already been signed into law in California and Maryland, and introduced in many other states. Already unanimously passed in the Vermont General Assembly, Governor Phil Scott now has the opportunity to sign this legislation into law as a testament to Vermont’s unwavering commitment to our youngest citizens and their wellbeing in the digital world.