Ava Morrow is a student at the University of Maryland.
Recent reports involving predatory behavior and grooming on Roblox, a platform widely viewed as child-friendly, underscore just how vulnerable young people can be online. There have also been growing concerns surrounding emotionally manipulative artificial intelligence chatbot interactions and the mental health effects they can have on young users.
As a current student at the University of Maryland studying government and politics, I have grown up entirely in the digital age and have seen in real time how deeply online platforms influence the lives of young people.
Through my work as a pool operator and lifeguard, a camp counselor, a babysitter and a local volunteer, I have seen firsthand the profound impacts that unregulated online platforms can have on minors and young adults, as they are consistently surrounded by online platforms.
Social media and apps have shaped how my generation communicates, learns and socializes. While these platforms can provide connection and opportunity, they have also introduced serious risks, ranging from cyberbullying and predatory behavior to harmful content, misinformation and addictive algorithms.
I have seen classmates and peers struggle with the pressure created by constant social comparison, unhealthy online environments and the mental health effects that can come from unchecked digital exposure. And it’s not just teens; it’s increasingly reaching children at younger ages.
That’s why conversation in Congress matters. Congress is reviewing legislation that could create stronger protections online and curb some of the harmful dangers that exist across digital platforms.
Take, for example, the App Store Accountability Act. This legislation provides a strong and practical framework that places responsibility to verify age at the app store level, making it the centralized gateway through which minors download and access applications. The approach creates one consistent point for age verification and parental consent, while reducing the need for platforms to repeatedly collect sensitive user information. It also gives parents clearer oversight and establishes more uniform protection for kids, regardless of which apps they use.
But not every proposal addresses these concerns effectively. The Parents Over Platforms Act places the burden on individual apps and platforms to determine how minors access online spaces. While well intentioned, the approach creates a fragmented system that many young people can easily navigate around, undermining the purpose of them in the first place. Different standards across platforms create loopholes and inconsistencies that weaken enforcement and make overall protection harder to achieve.
Protecting children online requires solutions that are practical, consistent and capable of being implemented on a national level. We need a balanced approach that strengthens child safety, supports parental involvement and creates clearer accountability in the digital spaces we navigate every day. This is just the start of a much larger conversation, as the online world continues to evolve, but it is a conversation we cannot afford to ignore.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
