Education Leaders Applaud Court Decision to Protect Children Online

SACRAMENTO — Today, CFT – A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals and its national affiliate, the AFT, came together to celebrate the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision preserving California's Age-Appropriate Design Code Act or Kids Code. The unions released the following statements:

“Here in California, we are committed to enacting nation-leading policies to ensure our students are welcome and safe so they can learn in our classrooms. Legislators passed the Kids Code in response to school staff and parents calling out the very real effects of age-inappropriate social media on students’ ability to focus in the classroom. Big Tech knows their platforms are propped up by preying on children, and as educators and classified professionals, we will not allow that to happen without a fight. We are grateful that the court’s decision will finally allow this critical safety regulation to go into effect and will continue to fight for legislation to protect California’s kids,” said CFT President Jeff Freitas. 

“The courts just rejected Big Tech's cynical, years-long effort to undermine commonsense laws that protect kids from predatory designs and harmful algorithms,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Experts – including kids, parents, educators, doctors and more – agree that protecting kids with robust regulations is vital in the age of social media. It’s only the companies clamoring for profit who want to maintain the status quo that hijacks kids’ attention, exploits their anxieties and throttles learning and engagement with the world around them.”

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CFT – A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals represents 120,000 teachers, faculty, and school employees in public and private schools and colleges, from early childhood through higher education. It is the statewide affiliate of the AFT. More information at www.cft.org.