Big Tech Should Embrace California’s Age Appropriate Design Code

Hannah-Beth Jackson is a Democrat who served in the California State Assembly from 1998-2004 and State Senate from 2012-2020. Jordan Cunningham is a Republican who served in the California State Assembly from 2016-2022 and was a co-author of the California Age Appropriate Design Code. Big Tech is one of the most powerful forces in Washington, DC and state capitals around the country. Using their armies of lobbyists and the power of campaign contributions, major technology companies routinely sway public policy decisions in their favor.  If that wasn’t enough, an organization representing tech giants including Amazon, Meta, and TikTok announced in late March that it is setting up a “litigation center” to fight new regulations and lawsuits that seek to hold them to account for harms to children.  The evidence of tech’s malfeasance is overwhelming: A recent CDC study found that one in three girls reported seriously considering suicide in the past year – a 60% rise from a decade ago. Hospitalizations among kids under age 19 increased 61% from 2016 to 2021 – and the connection to social media is increasingly stark. Tech companies have made children the most tracked, profiled, and monetized generation; childhood happens increasingly online, without any rules.  As lawmakers who worked for a combined 20 years to enact privacy protections for consumers, it’s appalling to see Big Tech companies use their power and money to attempt to wipe their hands clean of the harms their products have inflicted. But that shouldn’t stop us from continuing to…Big Tech Should Embrace California’s Age Appropriate Design Code