For Immediate Release
Contact: Maxwell Szabo | max@szaboandassociates.com | 415.828.6158
Parents, Educators, Children’s Advocates, Civil Rights and Business Leaders, Technology Companies, and Community Groups Urge Legislature to Set National Standard by Making the Parents and Kids Safe AI Act Law
San Francisco – Today, the Parents and Kids Safe AI Coalition—a growing alliance of parents, educators, children’s advocates, civil rights organizations, business leaders, technology companies, and community groups—announced a campaign urging the California Legislature to pass the nation’s strongest and most comprehensive child AI safety law.
The coalition unveiled a series of policy principles that should serve as the foundation of model legislation to enact strong, enforceable safeguards that protect kids, empower parents, and adapt as AI technology evolves.
“This is one of the strongest efforts of its kind in the United States,” said Dr. Tecoy Porter, President of the National Action Network Sacramento Chapter. “Kids in communities of color are often among the earliest adopters of new technology. California has a responsibility to ensure strong protections are in place so children are safe and parents have the tools they need.”
The coalition plans to launch a full-scale public awareness campaign to educate lawmakers and families about the need for strong AI safety protections for children.
“AI is advancing faster than the safeguards designed to protect children,” said Erin Hogeboom, Director of San Diego for Every Child. “Families and educators are already seeing how powerful these tools can be, but they also bring real risks that our current laws simply weren’t built to address. California must act now to establish clear standards that protect children and ensure companies are designing these technologies with kids’ safety in mind.”
The coalition urges the Legislature to adopt the framework established in the Parents and Kids Safe AI Act, which would create the strongest protections in the country for children interacting with AI. Key policy principles include:
- Require age assurance to distinguish kids from adults and ensure that child-protective settings are in place for users under 18;
- Prohibit child-targeted advertising and the sale or sharing of kids’ and teens’ data without parental consent;
- Require AI companies to conduct annual risk assessments to identify and document new and existing child safety risks;
- Require AI companies to build safeguards to protect children from content that is sexually explicit, violent or that promotes self harm—creating safer interactions for children;
- Require safeguards to keep systems from creating emotional dependence such as by simulating romantic relationships;
- Require AI systems to provide easy-to-use parental controls so parents can set time limits, adjust privacy settings, manage their child’s AI use, and receive parental alerts if their kids show signs of self-harm;
- Require AI companies to submit to annual independent audits, with results submitted to the Attorney General and a summary made available to the public; and
- Hold AI companies accountable for protecting children through California Attorney General investigations and financial penalties.
Together, these safeguards build on California’s existing consumer protection, privacy, and child-safety laws by addressing AI-specific risks those laws were never designed to cover.
The coalition represents organizations working across youth development, civil rights, education, community advocacy, and technology policy.
Initial members of the growing coalition include:
- California LULAC
- National Action Network – Western Region
- National Diversity Coalition
- Better Youth, Inc.
- Youth Beat
- Healthy Black Families, Inc.
- Social Equity California
- Social Equity Los Angeles
- National Action Network Sacramento
- First Day Foundation
- La Cooperativa Campesina de California
- Wonder Wood Ranch
“AI will shape the future for millions of young people, including many in Latino communities across California,” said Jacob Sandoval, State Director of California LULAC. “Families want to see this technology used to expand opportunity—not create new risks for children. That’s why it’s critical that California establish clear safeguards that protect kids and give parents a real voice in how these tools are used.”
In February, the California Attorney General cleared the coalition to begin signature gathering for the Parents and Kids Safe AI Act. If the Legislature fails to act this year, the coalition plans to launch a signature-gathering campaign to collect 546,651 voter signatures by August to place the measure on the November 2028 ballot.
“We know disadvantaged and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by lack of education and access to technology,” said Faith Bautista, President & CEO of the National Diversity Coalition. “This approach strikes a critical balance of protecting the beneficial uses of AI that can help close achievement and educational gaps, while ensuring families and children have the tools to use it responsibly and safely.”
To learn more visit ParentsAndKidsSafeAI.com.