Three recent developments are putting new attention on how to protect children online: a Senate investigation into child safety on Roblox, major litigation against Meta, and a proposed Florida rule addressing artificial intelligence in public schools.
Each raises a different version of a question explored in The Policy Circle’s Protecting Children Online Brief: Who is responsible for keeping children safe as technology becomes a larger part of childhood?
Parents have an essential role. But so do technology companies, schools, states, Congress, law enforcement, and communities. These developments show how those responsibilities are being debated and defined in real time.
Senate Investigates Roblox Over Child Safety
The U.S. Senate is taking a closer look at child safety on Roblox, one of the most popular online gaming platforms among young people.
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, announced this month that the subcommittee had opened an investigation into child safety on the platform. Their letter to Roblox CEO David Baszucki raises concerns about reports of predators using the platform to groom and exploit children and directs the company to provide the requested documents and information by August 31.
Roblox has said safety is fundamental to the platform and that it continues to strengthen its systems for detecting and reporting potential exploitation.
The investigation raises a larger policy question: What responsibility should online platforms have to identify, prevent, report, and respond to risks facing children who use their products?
Gaming platforms are no longer simply places where children play. They can also be social spaces where young users communicate with people they do not know offline. That makes platform design, reporting systems, parental controls, age assurance, and cooperation with law enforcement increasingly important parts of the child-safety conversation.
Meta Child Safety Lawsuits Put Platform Responsibility to the Test
The courts are also playing a growing role in determining what responsibility technology companies have for protecting young users.
Earlier this month, a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund after finding that the company had created a public nuisance and harmed children’s wellbeing. The decision followed a separate $375 million jury award in the same case.
The ruling went beyond financial penalties. The court ordered changes to Meta’s operations in New Mexico, including limits on teen use, restrictions on notifications and adult contact with minors, and additional safeguards involving interactions between children and AI chatbots. Meta has said it will appeal.
Now, an even broader legal test is underway.
On August 18, a landmark federal trial began in California as part of litigation brought by 29 state attorneys general. The states alleged that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram in ways that encouraged compulsive use among children, misled the public about the safety of its platforms, and improperly collected children’s personal information. Meta disputes the allegations and argues that it has invested significantly in protections for young users.
Just over a week later, Meta and a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general announced a proposed settlement that would resolve the case, subject to court approval. Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion to the states over ten years and make significant changes to Facebook and Instagram for users under 18.
Those changes include a daily time limit and overnight restrictions that can only be lifted by a parent, limits on notifications, enhanced parental supervision tools, and an independent auditor to oversee compliance. The agreement would also prohibit visible “like” counts and cosmetic procedure filters for minors and give young users the option of a non-personalized feed.
Together, the New Mexico ruling and the multistate trial bring a central question into focus: Should protecting children online depend primarily on how families use a product, or should protections also be built into the product itself?
The answer could have implications far beyond Meta. Thousands of lawsuits involving states, school districts, families, and individuals are challenging how social media platforms interact with children. The legal boundaries around platform design and responsibility are still being written.
Florida Considers New AI Rules for Schools
A third debate is unfolding in a place much closer to home for many families: the classroom.
The Florida Department of Education has begun the rulemaking process to require district school boards and charter school governing boards to incorporate the use of artificial intelligence into their internet safety policies.
The move comes as AI is rapidly becoming part of education, offering opportunities for personalized learning, teacher support, and new ways for students to access information.
But it also raises new questions for parents, educators, and school leaders:
- What information are AI tools collecting from students?
- When should parents be notified or asked for consent?
- Which AI products are appropriate at different ages?
- And how should schools evaluate the growing number of educational tools that incorporate AI?
For parents and community leaders, the Florida debate highlights an important point: technology policy is increasingly education policy.
These are increasingly questions for school boards and communities, not just technology companies.
Three Developments, One Larger Question
The Roblox investigation, Meta litigation, and Florida AI debate involve different technologies and different levels of government. But each is wrestling with a version of the same question:
How do we preserve the opportunities technology creates while building meaningful protections for children?
There is unlikely to be a single solution.
Congress can establish standards and conduct oversight. States can test different approaches to online safety and education policy. Courts can determine how existing laws apply to emerging technologies. Schools can establish boundaries around technology use. Companies can build safer products. Parents can set expectations at home. And citizens can engage in the decisions happening in their communities.
That shared responsibility is at the heart of The Policy Circle’s Protecting Children Online initiative.
Get Informed. Start a Conversation.
The Policy Circle has created free resources to help parents, educators, and community leaders better understand the changing digital environment and take practical next steps:
- Read the Protecting Children Online Policy Circle Brief for a deeper look at social media, online exploitation, AI, youth wellbeing, platform responsibility, parental authority, and the roles of state and federal government.
- Download A Guide for Parents for practical tools to navigate screen time, online safety, and healthy digital habits at home.
- Use the Teens & Tweens Guide for conversation starters and tips about social media, online safety, and responsible technology use.
- Watch the Protecting Children Online Move the Needle conversation for a discussion about online exploitation, social media, AI and what parents and communities can do.
Technology will continue to change. The challenge is ensuring that parents, educators, policymakers, technology companies, and communities are equipped to change with it, while keeping children’s safety and wellbeing at the center.
