Photo collage made with photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images
Big Tech companies profit from getting kids addicted to social media, and they have few regulations or levels of accountability when kids are hurt online by sexploitation, scams, and chatbots—and Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) is saying enough is enough.
On Feb. 9, Sen. McMorrow, who is running to represent Michigan in the US Senate election this year, announced her agenda to protect kids from addictive and harmful influences online, just weeks after she supported fellow state Democrats as they introduced a series of bills to protect Michigan kids from dangers associated with social media and AI usage.
McMorrow’s plan calls for, among other things, removing cellphones from classrooms, ending incentives to harvest kids’ data, making Big Tech end addictive features like “infinite scroll” for users under age 14, and banning chatbots that represent themselves as licensed professionals.
“When I think about my own daughter’s safety, I worry what this age of tech means for how she’ll grow up—how she’ll see the world and see herself,” said Sen. McMorrow in a press release.
“Congress has done too little to fix this… Now President Trump is making it worse—gutting the agencies meant to protect our kids online and blocking state laws designed to keep them safe.”
McMorrow faces US Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and former Wayne County health department director Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic US Senate primary, held in August. The winner will go on to face either former US Rep. Mike Rogers or Bernadette Smith, the former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, as the Republican candidate for the Senate seat.
All Michigan voters can participate in the primary election. Learn about your voting options here.
Related: Senate poll shows McMorrow ahead, Stevens frontrunner status in doubt
Read more: Mallory McMorrow runs for US Senate to ‘cut through the BS’ and deliver for Michigan
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