Washington, D.C., May 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Crime Prevention Council today urges lawmakers to reject the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act), H.R. 7757. This House compromise represents a step backwards for child safety and is a “fig leaf” for dangerous policy changes favored by social media companies.
“To label the KIDS Act ‘digital safety’ legislation is itself a false claim,” said Paul DelPonte, Executive Director of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC). “This House bill is nothing more than a fig leaf that provides cover for the dangerous desires of technology executives instead of making them create meaningful ways to keep kids safe.”
The proposed legislation would strip states of the power to protect children and other users of platforms. It glaringly omits “duty to care” provisions included in the Kids Online Safety Act that passed the U.S. Senate on a resounding 91-3 bipartisan vote.
“States have taken the lead in trying to protect children from deadly fake pills, AI-generated pornography, sex trafficking, fraud and other abuses running rampant of social media platforms,” DelPonte said. “Congress needs to reject this ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card giveaway to social media platforms.”
Currently, more than 40 states and the District of Columbia are suing Meta, Snapchat, Google, and TikTok for designing and marketing products that function as open air drug markets, accelerate criminal activity, and cause mental health harms ranging from anorexia to suicide.
The nonprofit NCPC is currently running a McGruff the Crime Dog public service advertisement warning about the deadly dangers of fake pills sold on social media platforms, and sponsors the livesproject.org as a digital remembrance quilt and a call to call to action to stop social media harms. In addition to NCPC, a large range of parent organizations, law enforcement groups, state attorneys general, children’s advocates and others support the Senate version of the bill.
Through award-winning public education campaigns and community level work, NCPC promotes greater civic engagement that helps law enforcement, families, and communities come together to prevent crime and advocate for public policies to make the U.S. safer. NCPC is the home of McGruff the Crime Dog® and has helped generations of Americans Take a Bite Out of Crime®.
Stephenie Fu National Crime Prevention Council 202-919-4598 sfu@ncpc.org
