TECH protections
Protecting Our Children in a Digital Age
Every day, parents, educators, and mental health professionals across Queens tell me the same thing: social media is affecting our kids in ways we are not prepared for, and families are being left to face this crisis alone. As a mom, an elected official, and a lifelong advocate for children and families, I’ve seen up close how policy decisions, or the lack of them, shape young people’s lives. That’s one of the reasons I’m running for State Senate, to make sure New York acts where others have failed.
For years, the federal government has acknowledged the harm social media is causing to children and teens, yet meaningful action has stalled. Big Tech executives apologize at hearings while their companies continue to profit from addictive algorithms, invasive data practices, and platforms that undermine young people’s mental health. The status quo is not working, and doing nothing is a choice, one that hurts kids.
New York has the power to lead, and as State Senator I will use it. Our state has a proud history of standing up to powerful interests to protect public health and consumer safety. We can once again set the standard by holding tech companies accountable, investing in our children’s well-being, and ensuring that technology works for families, not against them. This campaign is about choosing courage over complacency and putting our children first. My 5-point plan to protect our children in the digital age will do just that.
1. Enforce Real Age-Appropriate Design Standards
Big Tech companies often claim that parents should simply “monitor screen time,” but this shifts responsibility away from corporations that knowingly design harmful products. Children are not small adults, and platforms built for maximum engagement are fundamentally unsafe when repackaged for kids. Design choices matter and right now, they are failing our families.
New York can require age-appropriate design standards that put children’s well-being first. That means banning manipulative “dark patterns,” limiting push notifications that encourage compulsive use, and requiring platforms to assess and mitigate risks to young users before harm occurs. Safety cannot be optional or an afterthought; it must be built in from the start.
If companies want access to New York’s massive market, they must play by New York’s rules. We already regulate toys, food, and schools to protect children. Digital spaces should be no different. This is about responsibility, accountability, and recognizing that children deserve protection everywhere they live and learn including online.
2. Invest in Mental Health, Digital Literacy, and Schools
While tech companies profit from harm, families and schools are left to manage the fallout. Educators are seeing rising anxiety, attention challenges, and social isolation in classrooms. Parents are struggling to navigate platforms that were never designed with children’s health in mind. We cannot regulate our way out of this crisis alone; we must also invest.
New York should significantly expand school-based mental health services, with resources specifically tailored to the impacts of social media and digital overload. We must also invest in age-appropriate digital literacy education, so young people can better understand how online platforms work and how to protect themselves in digital spaces.
This is about meeting kids where they are with care, with compassion, and with support. Protecting children online does not mean blaming them or their families. It means giving communities the tools they need to help young people thrive in a digital world that is here to stay.
3. Hold Big Tech Accountable
For too long, Big Tech has privatized profits while socializing harm. The mental health crisis facing our children is not accidental. It is the predictable result of corporate choices. When companies cause widespread harm, they should be held financially accountable for repairing it.
New York has powerful consumer protection and public health laws that can be used to enforce standards and penalize violations. I will support strong enforcement actions against companies that break the law and create a Children’s Digital Health Fund, financed by fines and penalties on offending corporations; not taxpayers.
Those dollars should be reinvested directly into youth mental health services, schools, and community-based programs. If tech companies profit from harming children, they should help pay for healing the damage. Accountability is not anti-business. It is pro-child, pro-family, and pro-justice.
4. Establish Clear Age Limits for Social Media Platforms
Social media is uniquely harmful to children because it exploits developmental vulnerabilities around social reward, comparison, and impulse control. Young people themselves report feeling unable to stop using these platforms, even when they regret the time spent or feel worse afterward. This is not a failure of parenting. It is a structural problem created by corporate design.
New York should establish clear age limits for creating social media accounts, with strong age-verification requirements that apply to platforms, not families. Children should still be able to access information online, but companies should not be allowed to onboard minors into addictive, data-harvesting systems designed for adults. Other states and countries have shown this is both feasible and constitutional.
Federal inaction has allowed Big Tech to delay meaningful reform for years. New York can lead by solving the collective-action problem parents face and giving families backup when they say, “not yet.” This is about delaying harm, not denying expression and giving kids time to grow before being pulled into profit-driven digital ecosystems.
5. Make Big Tech Pay for the Harm It Creates
Social media and AI platforms generate enormous profits while shifting the costs of harm onto families, schools, and communities. This mirrors past public health crises (like tobacco and alcohol) where unchecked corporate behavior produced widespread social damage.
New York should impose targeted taxes or fees on large technology platforms to fund the externalities they create, including youth mental health services, digital literacy education, and community-based supports. These funds should be dedicated, transparent, and reinvested directly into children and families.
This is not about stifling innovation. It’s about accountability. If Big Tech profits from practices that harm children, it should help pay for healing the damage. New York can once again lead the nation by proving that economic success must come with social responsibility.
A New York–First Plan to Hold Big Tech Accountable
Protecting children from the harms of social media is not about rejecting technology. It is about setting boundaries that put people first. We regulate products that affect children’s health and safety in every other part of their lives. Online platforms should be no exception, especially when their own research shows they are causing real harm.
Big Tech has had years to act responsibly and chose not to. The federal government has failed to step in. That leaves states like New York with both the opportunity and the obligation to lead. We can prove that accountability and innovation are not opposites. Protecting children is a shared responsibility we must take seriously.
As State Senator, I will always stand with families, educators, and young people, not with corporations that profit from harm. Our children deserve a future where technology supports their growth, creativity, and well-being. Together, we can build a digital world that reflects our values and ensures that every child in New York has the chance to thrive.