Fairplay

Creating a world where kids can be kids, free from false promises of marketers + Big Tech. Home of Screen Time Action Network and Designed with Kids in Mind.

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

📢 Congress MUST pass the Senate’s #KidsOnlineSafetyAct and give kids the protections they deserve. No family should have to experience the loss of a child due to Big Tech’s greed.

Mark Zuckerberg, STOP blocking legislation to protect kids online!! ❌

Watch the video of @parents4sos' projection in Washington, DC, last night ⬇️

[State Senator Andrew Gounardes @Sen_Gounardes]

I stood with families and fellow lawmakers outside Google’s New York office yesterday to say that we’re not going to let Big Tech strong-arm their way into our schools.

It’s a simple red line: our kids’ learning comes before their profits.

📸: Greg Pak

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

📣Yesterday was a great day to protest Google! After the Big Tech bully tried to strong-arm schools into using its AI products on students --- or lose access to Google Search --- protestors showed up at Google offices around the country.

📸Check out this photobook of the NYC rally from our friends in the AIM Coalition! https://t.co/GqMNgGKfX2

[Ben Brody @BenBrodyDC]

On kids digital safety bills (KOSA etc), Commerce Chair @SenTedCruz said he's "hopeful that we will get them passed in the full Senate and that we reach agreement with the House"

[State Senator Andrew Gounardes @Sen_Gounardes]

Worried about the unchecked expansion of screens and AI in schools, and want to take action?

Join @sarahana and me for a webinar to learn about the FOCUS Act, our comprehensive proposal to create guardrails on tech in schools across New York!

RSVP at https://t.co/C5IqM2AcZ1

[Parents for Safe Online Spaces @parents4sos]

Congress returns for the final weeks of 2026 today.

The Kids Online Safety Act is supported by three quarters of the Senate. Every week without KOSA is another week kids face the same online harms.

There's no good reason to wait. It’s time to #PassKOSA.
https://t.co/IG7uFNmsME

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

"AI Regulation: School Edition" is the theme of our upcoming Action Network Mind Lab on Tues., 11/17, at 4 pm ET. 🧠🧪

Space is limited to maintain a close, conversational dynamic. Sign up to attend now! 🔗
https://t.co/EAkvSvgTFx

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

Read the full statement! 🔗https://t.co/N4WE9ZAcGv

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

📝STATEMENT on Google AI in School Allegedly Helping Teen Girl Plan Suicide:

“The idea of an untested AI chatbot helping a 13-year-old girl plan her own suicide should terrify all of us, but this is the sick new reality Google has created by forcing its AI products onto school-issued devices. Google claims its Chromebooks are there to help students learn, but in reality, the company was experimenting on kids like Emma by pushing them to use Gemini, a product the company knew was dangerous but rushed out anyway.

“As this lawsuit shows, AI chatbots are not safe for kids. They also undermine students’ ability to learn and think critically. Yet just this week, Google announced it would turn off Search for schools that refuse to use its AI products. It’s clear this massive corporation does not care about children’s safety — it only cares about profits.

“We commend Emma’s parents and the EdTech Law Center for filing this urgent lawsuit. We also call on Congress and state legislatures to pass the People-First Chatbot Bill, model legislation we helped draft that will protect kids from AI harms.

“Let this be a reminder that ‘Google’ is not a verb. It’s the name of a surveillance and advertising company whose presence in schools has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with turning our kids into lifelong loyal customers.”

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

An #AIToy, sold for kids ages 3+ on Amazon and eBay, gave a child explicit sexual answers to innocent questions.

This isn't one faulty product. AI chatbot toys are a new category that no regulator tests beforehand to safeguard against psychological or developmental harm.

More than 40 UK MPs and peers have already called for action. Now, we're joining @All4theChild and Set@16 to urge the public, in the UK, the US, and beyond, to demand:

✅ Retailers take AI chatbot toys off the shelves until independently proven safe.
✅ Governments use existing powers to stop their sale to children.
✅ A real safety standard before any AI toy reaches a child.

Please sign and share the petition! 🔗 https://t.co/RfbpmDNdft

#AIToysNotForChristmas #ChildSafety #OnlineSafety

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

📝STATEMENT: It’s clear that Google underestimated the rising parent backlash against AI and EdTech, and now it’s scrambling in the face of a PR nightmare. But this ‘clarification’ doesn’t appear to change the fact that students won’t be able to use Google Search without being subjected to Google’s AI. The company is clearly banking on Search’s popularity to lure schools into consenting to use Google’s AI.

Schools shouldn’t be fooled by this bait and switch. The good news is that it appears that Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Search will now be off by default. Schools should leave them off, because Google’s AI tools aren’t safe for kids and undermine learning and critical thinking.

https://t.co/9XRi5LgHbH

[News from Google @NewsFromGoogle]

We want to clarify what we announced today about our education services. Today’s announcements give schools more choice, not less. Here’s what we announced:

- Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Search will be OFF 🔴 by default. This is based on K-12 schools asking for more control over student use of AI services.

- Schools are in control: They can choose to turn ON 🟢 one, two, or all of these services individually.

- We are also updating Search for schools to make it better for learning. Specifically, AI Mode and AI Overviews will offer step-by-step guided learning through problems, so that students don’t get quick answers to schoolwork.

We know there’s concern about students using AI to shortcut schoolwork, and schools have told us they want control. That’s exactly why we are making these changes today to address the feedback we’ve heard from educators in recent months. And we’ll continue to engage deeply with educators to ensure we are giving schools more choice, more controls, and improved Search for learning.

[Center for Digital Democracy; @DigitalDemoc]

Google's AI "smoking gun" action here illustrates how Gen AI powered digital marketing is increasingly directing AI's evolution, with further loss of privacy, autonomy & # of economic harms for public. U.S. failed to regulate commercial surveillance in broadband era; repeat performance in Gen AI Adtech era. Industry already crafted global standards etc. Ex: https://t.co/ZdiL4YBUfW

[leonie haimson @leoniehaimson]

Yup. “Schools should use this opportunity to help students find more privacy-protective alternatives for search, as well as ways to do more substantive research beyond search and click,” Golin of @fairplayforkids said.

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

Read more! 🔗 https://t.co/8eJ2YAExTu

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

📝STATEMENT: Google is trying to strong-arm schools by turning off search in schools that reject Google AI.

Read our reaction below from Fairplay Executive Director Josh Golin ⬇️

"Google's attempt to strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire. Schools should use this opportunity not only to turn off AI, but to teach students that 'Google' isn't a verb, but the name of a surveillance and advertising company whose presence in schools has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with developing lifetime brand loyalty.

"Because AI isn't safe for kids and undermines education and critical thinking, schools should turn off Google's AI tools the minute that option becomes available. And rather than fret about losing access to Google search, schools should use this opportunity to help students find more privacy-protective alternatives for search, as well as ways to do more substantive research beyond search and click."

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

Tonight's in-person Book Talk with Natasha Singer in Boston has been postponed to 2027. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information!

[Lynn's Warriors @lynns_warriors]

💙 LYNN'S WARRIORS💙STANDS WITH @fairplayforkids! Congress must pass the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1748) by the end of this year and STOP🛑 protecting META.
📣We strongly agree with Fairplay's statement exposing Meta's reported goal to get the academic community to "disavow" and "turn against" Jonathan Haidt.
📣A company that seeks to discredit those raising concerns about children's safety must be held accountable.
📣OUR CHILDREN DESERVE PROTECTION, NOT CORPORATE INTIMIDATION! ❌
Read Fairplay's statement. 📝
“A company that comes up with a secret plot to take down a popular academic is not a company we can trust with our kids’ well-being. These internal documents from Meta demonstrate once again that the company is far more concerned with managing its reputation than actually making Instagram safer and less addictive for young people. Rather than engage with the substance of Jonathan Haidt’s evidence-based criticisms, Meta launched a covert plan to discredit an academic whose best-selling book helped galvanize a parent movement. It’s also revealing that Meta completely undermined its own well-being team to the point that employees made a spreadsheet to track all the times in-house counsel interfered with their work.

“At this point, it’s clear that Meta has no interest in engaging critics in good faith or even making its products safe for kids, so it’s up to Congress to step in and force the company to stop addicting and harming our children. We call on Congress to stop protecting Meta and pass the game-changing Kids Online Safety Act by the end of the year.”

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

📰 Read the full story: https://t.co/kLDZicXEHv

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

Regarding today's @meta 💣: Our Executive Director Josh Golin told @TBarrabi from @nypost that Meta is “far more concerned with managing its reputation than actually making Instagram safer and less addictive for young people” 🔗 ⬇️

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

Read our full statement! 📝🔗https://t.co/DVan0GmUsV

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

😱SHOCKING: Meta set a goal to "get the academic community to disavow" & "turn against" Jonathan Haidt.

Any company that would launch a secret plan to take down a critic is a company we can't trust with our kids' safety. ❌ Read our statement (link in comments!) ⬇️