Let’s Get Online Protections for Kids Right in Arizona

By Stephanie Calderon

As a parent, I want to do everything I can to protect my kids, whether on the playground, in the classroom, or through social media on their phones. And like so many parents, I’ve felt the growing concern that my kids' digital world doesn’t have the safeguards it should. That’s why I’m encouraged to see lawmakers in Arizona and nationwide finally having serious conversations about how to protect kids online.

These conversations couldn’t come at a more critical time. Reasonable policies are needed to stop exposure to harmful content and predatory behavior. But I also know that online platforms have become a big part of how my kids learn, connect, and express themselves. Online videos are often a part of schoolwork for younger children, and many creators have developed tailored content for early childhood education. For teens, they’re a crucial piece of the social scene they’re growing up in. So, as a parent to both younger and older children, I believe that any solution put forward has to strike a real balance that keeps kids safe online, without cutting them off from the positive parts of the internet or preventing their rights to express themselves online.

In Arizona, we saw the beginning of that conversation play out in this legislative session. A bill, recently signed by Governor Hobbs, mandated the use of age verification for websites that host pornographic content. This move reflects a broader trend of states nationwide mandating that platforms or sites ensure users meet a defined age. Other states have gone further, asking social media platforms to collect ID cards or biometric information of their users.

Collecting any data from my kids is already a concerning prospect that raises alarm bells for me. However, what is more concerning is a new push by Big Tech CEO’s seeking to avoid the responsibility of verifying the age of their users by shifting it onto app stores.

Throughout this year, prominent tech leaders like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the CEOs of X and Snap have been working behind the scenes in state legislatures and Washington to push a so-called simplified approach to age verification. They argue that rather than having apps or individual websites collect data and verify ages, the app stores that allow users to download these apps should be forced to take it on. While they may frame the change as in the best interest of kids and their families, it’s rooted in a desire to avoid accountability.

Under this approach, app stores would be forced to collect the highly sensitive personal data from users—regardless of whether they are kids or not—and send that information as a signal to all apps in the store’s ecosystem. That means instead of us deciding which apps get access to our kids’ data, it could be shared far more broadly. Given that even app-based age verification carries major risks of data breaches and leaking our kids’ personal data, considering this policy on a broader scale is even more frightening.

Arizona’s lawmakers have done the right thing so far by staying focused on what’s best for families and not what is easiest for Mark Zuckerberg, unlike our neighbors in Utah. However, we must remain focused and find real, reasonable solutions for parents' concerns about their kids online. Let’s work together to make the internet a safer place for all, without jeopardizing our kids’ data and right to speech online in the process.