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by WILL FOLKS
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A national nonprofit organization is entering the ongoing debate in South Carolina over the safety and privacy of children and teenagers online – and the right of parents to continue playing a pivotal role in making those decisions.
Connect x Protect bills itself as being “committed to building an internet where kids and teens can safely learn, explore, grow and connect.”
“We believe protecting kids online is a responsibility shared by everyone,” the group’s mission statement noted, adding it would “support policies that make the internet safer for everyone.”
The group is led by former USA Today editor-in-chief Terence Samuel, a veteran author, journalist and newsroom leader with extensive experience over several decades in our nation’s evolving media landscape.
“Protecting young people online is a problem that parents can’t solve on their own,” Samuel said in a news release touting the organization’s Palmetto State launch. “Our effort is grounded in the belief that real safety comes from holding companies accountable for responsible, transparent design — not from shifting the burden onto parents, teens, or app stores.”
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“We’ve launched this effort to ensure that policy solutions address the harmful products and design practices that put them at risk, without creating unnecessary privacy vulnerabilities for families,” Samuel added.
Connect x Protect is focused on building a coalition of “respected parent, faith, education and community leaders” which it says will advocate on behalf of “a more balanced approach to online safety.”
What does that look like, exactly?
The group is touting what it refers to as a ‘Declaration for a Safer Digital Future,’ a statement of “shared principles calling on those who design and profit from online platforms to take responsibility for the environments they create.”
“Digital platforms, app developers, and hosting services have a moral and practical obligation to ensure that the environments they create are reasonably safe for young people – and to enforce their own policies swiftly, consistently, and transparently,” one of the declaration’s principles noted.
Another of its stated principles refers to proposed solutions being crafted to work “across the entire online ecosystem,” including “websites, desktop and mobile browsers, gaming platforms, messaging tools and emerging technologies.
The declaration further asserts that “no policy should replace parental judgment or diminish family autonomy.”
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“We envision a digital world grounded in responsibility, privacy, transparency, and respect for families,” the declaration noted. “A world where teens can explore with confidence, and where parents can guide them without fear or confusion. An internet designed with their well-being in mind.”
Several local leaders indicated they supported the work Connect x Protect was undertaking in the Palmetto State.
“Parents are desperately seeking solutions to protect their children online without inadvertently exposing them to additional risk,” said Tara Wood, former chair of the Charleston County Moms for Liberty organization. “What they really need are partners who will hold (the) industry accountable and ensure that any safety solutions truly work in the real world, facing very real threats.”
The Charleston County Republican Party (CCGOP) has also endorsed the group’s digital declaration.
The online safety of children and teens has become a hot-button issue in the Palmetto State – and is one of the key planks of veteran S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson, who is currently campaigning for governor of South Carolina.
“As a dad, I want to be certain that gaming platforms or websites my children can access are safe and free from sexualized material,” Wilson said earlier this year in announcing an investigation into the popular gaming platform Roblox. “And as attorney general, I want to ensure the safety of our state’s children on the internet, while making sure out-of-state corporations follow our laws.”
Wilson added that “our kids’ online safety is non-negotiable” and that “platforms that market themselves to kids have a responsibility to protect them, not expose them to sexualized content or deceptive practices.”
Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we track the evolution of this important debate…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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