Testimony

Written Testimony: Protecting Kids Online: Internet Privacy and Manipulative Marketing

May 2021 🇺🇸 U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

On May 18, 2021, Beeban Kidron — founder and chair of 5Rights Foundation — testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee's consumer protection subcommittee at a hearing titled "Protecting Kids Online: Internet Privacy and Manipulative Marketing." Drawing on her role shaping the UK's Age Appropriate Design Code, her written testimony describes gaps in the voluntary safety features then offered by major platforms and argues that self-regulation has been insufficient to address commercial design choices associated with data collection and engagement-driven features aimed at minors. She calls on U.S. lawmakers to consider enforceable, age-appropriate design standards rather than relying on individual platform policies. TechKids Foundation cites this testimony as a documented instance of cross-border policy advocacy linking design practices to youth-safety risk, presented to Congress as a regulatory matter rather than a specific medical claim.

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CITATION

Kidron, Beeban. Written Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security. Hearing: "Protecting Kids Online: Internet Privacy and Manipulative Marketing," May 18, 2021.

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