I was invited to attend the signing ceremony at the White House on Monday when President Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law alongside the First Lady. This law makes it illegal for a person to knowingly publish or threaten to publish nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated imagery, on social media and other websites. And perhaps even more importantly, requires websites and social media platforms to take down NCII, including deepfake pornographic images generated by AI, within 48 hours of being notified. This is a huge win for protecting America’s kids online and holding platforms accountable for their role in distributing and promoting the abuse and exploitation of children. I hope this will be only the first step of much more to come.
In her speech in the Rose Garden, First Lady Melania powerfully explained that “Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation: sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children.” But unlike real candy they lead to the abuse of children. She emphasized that we must put “people over politics.” President Trump likewise noted how the two parties came together to put children first in getting this law passed. He jokingly said to the First Lady, “I'm not even sure you realize, honey, you know, a lot of the Democrats and Republicans don't get along so well. You've made them get along.” The bipartisanship work on this issue must continue as the threats of AI and digital technology to our children only increase.
On that note, I wrote in The Federalist on Monday how Congress must now build on the Take It Down Act “to put forward a federal plan for AI that will both protect American innovation to help us win the AI arms race with China and ensure these technologies do not harm American consumers, especially our children.” I offer three guiding principles for Congress to include in such a framework:
We must protect children from the threats of AI by age-restricting the use of generative AI products to adults. (i.e. chatbots)
A national framework bill should explicitly prohibit AI models from being allowed to generate criminal categories of speech or commit criminal acts.
A national bill must impose legal liability on AI companies for harms to consumers.
I conclude, “Our country is at a critical juncture. The great choice America faces today is whether we will pay for AI dominance with taxpayer money and govern it accordingly, or if we will pay for it with the brains of taxpayers’ children.”
This piece summarizes the fuller comments that I submitted to the White House back in March in response to their request for comments in developing the White House’s AI Action Plan. You can read my full comments here.
And don’t forget, if you haven’t already to pre-order The Tech Exit, as it will be shipping out very soon! Here is a video of the moment when my first copies arrived:
I had the privilege of joining First Lady of Virginia Suzanne Youngkin for a women and girls’ gathering in Richmond, Virginia on May 1 to talk about mental health and digital technology alongside Virginia Secretaries Kelly and Guidera. I got to share the message of courage and hope from my book of how parents can successfully keep smartphones and social media out of childhood entirely. You can watch the full recording of the panel here.
The Now That We’re a Family Podcast had me on this past week to talk about how screen time limits don’t work and share instead how it is possible to do a “Tech Exit” instead. Watch here:
June 2: First Things will host me for a book conversation in New York City at 6 PM the night before The Tech Exit releases! Please sign up and come if you’re in the area.
June 9: Hillsdale in DC will host me for a lecture at 6:30 PM followed by a moderated Q&A about The Tech Exit. You can sign up here.
June 18: I will be doing a moderated Q&A specifically focused on equipping parents with the principles and practical steps from The Tech Exit at Capitol Hill Baptist Church (525 A Street NE) at 7 PM, all are welcome to attend, no registration required!
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