Government Action To Protect Kids Online Is Long Overdue | Opinion
April 7, 2025
Congress convened a hearing late last month to discuss the harms kids face online and what lawmakers can do to better protect them. On Wednesday, March 26, the witnesses who testified before House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade told the country in harrowing detail what, in its heart of hearts, Congress already knows: that growing up in the synthetic world of social media, online porn, smartphones, and now, AI friends and sexual relations, has devastated a generation. But will Congress finally do something about it?
The hearing featured experts from across the aisle, but the two most powerful witnesses were Dawn Hawkins of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and Clare Morell of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
