EPIC Testifies in Support of Rhode Island Age-Appropriate Design Code Approach

EPIC submitted testimony yesterday suggesting improvements to strengthen the Rhode Island Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC). The RI House Innovation Internet and Technology Committee is considering the RI AADC, among other bills, to provide privacy and online safety protections for minors.

EPIC’s testimony explained why the AADC model is the right approach to mitigate harms that kids face online. Companies design their platforms to extract as much time and data as possible and, in the process, they prey on minors’ psychological vulnerabilities for profit. The RI AADC would require companies building these products to take responsibility for their harmful design choices and to start integrating privacy and safety by design. EPIC’s testimony also recommended important changes to further strengthen the RI AADC and make it more resilient to a legal challenge.

Many of the provisions in the RI AADC are similar to the model bill that EPIC recently released. The EPIC Model Age-Appropriate Design Code protects kids online by prohibiting addictive design features for minors, giving them control over their privacy and preventing companies from designing products to promote compulsive use. In drafting the model bill, EPIC relied on its deep privacy knowledge, significant state policy experience, and expertise in speech-protective platform regulation.

Learn more about EPIC’s Model Age-Appropriate Design Code here.