Parents across Georgia know how deeply technology shapes children’s lives. From the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep, kids are immersed in social media feeds, online games, and messaging apps that are often anything but safe. What was once billed as a way to connect with friends has too often become a source of anxiety, isolation, and harm.
For years, we’ve read reports and listened to stories about the risks associated with social media, but as technology has advanced, the dangers of social media have been magnified. With the rise of artificial intelligence, companies are now racing to develop new models, including chatbots that appeal to children. Recent reporting revealed that Facebook, the company behind Instagram, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms trained its AI models using pornographic content. Internal documents show executives even approved child-facing chatbots that could engage in sexually explicit conversations. And most recently, whistleblowers testified before Congress that the company buried research documenting the harm its products cause to kids’ mental health.
These actions can no longer be written off as not small lapses in judgment. They are glaring reminders that Big Tech cannot not police itself when children’s safety is on the line.
In Washington, these developments have sparked debate about proposals to protect kids online from dangerous social media companies like Facebook. But federal action moves slowly, and families in Georgia cannot afford to wait. That’s why lawmakers in Atlanta are considering legislation now. Unfortunately, efforts to regulate social media have caught the attention of Big Tech companies like Facebook, whose executives are fighting to carve out the platforms responsible for harming children from facing real consequences.
A group of social media companies led by Facebook has launched a plan to shift responsibility away from themselves. They’ve lobbied aggressively for a proposal requiring age verification at the app store level. But if this were truly about safety, why spend millions on lobbyists and ad campaigns to push it through? The answer is simple. This plan benefits Facebook, not families.
The bill includes loopholes that make it meaningless. Minors could bypass age verification simply by logging in through a desktop, laptop, gaming console, or even the browser on their smartphone or tablet. That means companies like Facebook would face no real accountability. For instance, the proposal would do little to protect children from Facebook’s dangerous AI chatbots. The vast majority of users access AI models via a web browser, rendering age gates at the app store level useless. If lawmakers decide to move forward with age verification, those issues must be addressed.
However, age verification should not be lawmakers’ only tool. Even if an age verification law worked as intended, children would still be able to use Facebook’s pornography-trained chatbot because the companies rated it as “appropriate for kids.”
That points to a more basic issue. The content and design of these platforms are the problem. In Georgia, we need clear, enforceable standards that put children first. Lawmakers should require social media companies to meet age-appropriate design rules, limit data collection from minors, and give parents real tools to oversee their children’s online use. Just as we hold toy makers accountable for children’s safety, we should demand the same from Big Tech.
Our kids deserve online spaces that are safe, responsible, and built with their best interests in mind. Parents deserve real tools to protect their children. And lawmakers in Georgia have a duty to make that happen now.
Brice Futch is the founder of Stand With Georgia Values Foundation.
