Design It For Us

With millions of teens using Instagram and being automatically placed into Instagram Teen Accounts, we wanted to see if these accounts actually create a safer online experience. Check out what we found.

NEW: Meta has deployed an army of influencer moms and medical professionals to promote its Teen Account safety features. The strategy comes as the company faces mounting criticism—and legal pressure—over its impact on the mental health of minors. techtransparencyproject.org/articles/meta-…

40 percent of the global population now uses Meta on a daily basis. In this new episode of Big World, @ZamaanQureshi of @DesignItForUs digs into addictive design, AI chatbots, and what the U.S. can learn from the UK and Australia. Listen now 🔗 bit.ly/4cSCErY

"My voice gets shaky. I ramble. And sometimes I feel like I am out of my depth. But what I do know is that I have a passion for mental health and Big Tech regulation." Our MI State Lead, Mariella, wrote a Substack on being a youth leader in Michigan! designitforus.substack.com/p/stubbed-toes…

Thousands of Massachusetts voters are calling on @RepLoriTrahan: reject AI preemption. A coalition of national and local orgs are gathering petitions in MA, including @Public_Citizen, @EncodeAction, @DesignItForUs, @demandprogress, and Indivisible (Acton chapter).

Read here: fwiw.news/p/using-digita…

How do you mobilize people against Big Tech online while living in the digital reality they've created? Our very own Alison Rice, DIFU's Managing Director, breaks it down!

We sent a letter from 100 young Californians to @TedLieu urging him to reject any efforts to add AI preemption to his bill. AI preemption would nullify strong state laws that we've fought for across the country and in CA.

Not surprising to see that Meta is SO averse to the concept of protecting young people that they'd rather burn it all down. Right.

I joined @fox32news to talk about @DesignItForUs work on bills in Illinois. We are excited about the @ILSenDems work on The Artificial Intelligence Public Safety and Child Protection Transparency Act and making @GovPritzker’s Children’s Social Media Safety Act even stronger.

Meta claims that Instagram teen accounts will solve the safety problem for teenagers online. But only 0.38% of accounts have parental supervision enabled—and most of the time they don’t work. Today on Battletested, I speak with @zamaan_qureshi on the current state of the internet, social media, and how it affects Gen Z. Listen and watch here: linktr.ee/battletestedwi… #meta #instagram #teenaccounts

Excited to share a piece I published in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning about why the Illinois legislature has a golden opportunity to proactively regulate AI - and why they need to take it.

Read here: chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/20…

We're proud to endorse the Illinois Artificial Intelligence Public Safety and Child Protection Transparency Act. DIFU coalition member and IL resident Kash wrote an op-ed in support of the bill!

Meet our inaugural Innovator Circle cohort: designitforus.org/campaigns/inno…

We've been fighting in the halls of Congress. We've passed legislation. We've protested. And now we're taking another step further — supporting the founders who are actually building a better internet.

Big Tech has had a monopoly on what the internet looks like. Not anymore. Introducing the Innovator Circle.

@HerCampus @GovWhitmer @LexiCUnderwood "We already know what these companies knew and when they knew it. The question now is what we are going to do about it." - Holly, DIFU Education and Engagement Lead hercampus.com/culture/holdin…

It's time for a hard reset. We hosted a summit with @HerCampus calling out Big Tech for their harms to young people and paving the way for a better digital future. Huge thanks to @GovWhitmer & @LexiCUnderwood for joining us this week to put a spotlight on this critical issue!

"This is a verdict not just from a jury, but from a generation." Tell 'em Zamaan!