Managing Tech Use for Minors

Doghouse – Technology and Morality

Article from Issue 307/2026
Author(s):

Recent legislative bills put the burden of restricting minor use of technology onto operating systems, which has potential issues.

Two legislative bills came to my attention recently. One bill from Brazil (ECA Digital – Law No. 15.211/2025) and one from California (AB 1043). Both bills purport to protect minors in various age brackets from digital exploitation. There are steep fines for each violation.

Generally speaking, each bill requires the operating system to give "signals" to application stores and the applications themselves, that the guardian (and I specifically use that term) has indicated at account set up that the user of that account is under age and the guardian wishes to restrict their use of applications that are not appropriate for their age. Likewise, the operating system must implement tools that "limit screen time."

While I can appreciate the goals of protecting children, I think the operating system is not the level that should be responsible.

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