{"id":332,"date":"2026-06-08T14:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=332"},"modified":"2026-06-08T14:39:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:39:36","slug":"you-should-control-your-childs-phone-not-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=332","title":{"rendered":"You Should Control Your Child’s Phone \u2014 Not Silicon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Somewhere in America tonight, parents will discover something on their child\u2019s phone that they never approved, never knew existed, and never would have allowed. An app downloaded without permission. A purchase made without consent. A digital door opened to a world no child should enter alone.<\/p>\n

Read more Since SCOTUS Let Truck Drivers Who Can\u2019t Read English Kill Americans, Trump Needs To Take Action<\/a><\/p>\n

This happens millions of times a day. And Big Tech has spent years making sure parents can\u2019t stop the barrage. That is precisely what Texas is trying to change \u2014 and why the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is fighting to help them succeed.<\/p>\n

The Texas App Store Accountability Act, Senate Bill 2420, does something simple: It requires app stores to obtain parental consent before a minor can download an app or make an in-app purchase. Not a government censor deciding what children may see. Not a bureaucrat overriding family values. Just a parent \u2014 battling to stay in the loop, with a say, in their own child\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

The tech industry\u2019s response? Litigation.<\/p>\n

An Apple and Google-backed trade group has gone to federal court to strike down the law, arguing it violates the First Amendment. It\u2019s a remarkable claim \u2014 that requiring a corporation to ask a parent\u2019s permission before selling to their child somehow constitutes censorship.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t. And courts have long recognized why.<\/p>\n

When a child downloads an app, he isn\u2019t simply reading a book \u2014 he is entering a legal relationship. He agrees to terms of service drafted by armies of lawyers. He consents to data harvesting. He opens the door to in-app purchases that can run into hundreds of dollars. These are commercial transactions \u2014 and for centuries, American law has held that minors cannot enter binding commercial agreements without parental involvement.<\/p>\n

Children can\u2019t buy alcohol. They can\u2019t sign contracts. They can\u2019t make major medical decisions alone. SB 2420 simply applies that same common sense to the app marketplace.<\/p>\n

What makes the tech industry\u2019s opposition so striking is what it reveals about their business model. These platforms are not neutral conduits for expression. They are engineered \u2014 deliberately and systematically \u2014 to maximize engagement, especially among young users. The algorithms that keep a 13-year-old scrolling at midnight were designed by some of the brightest minds in the world, optimized with billions of dollars and mountains of behavioral data, for exactly that purpose.<\/p>\n

In Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products<\/em>, author Nir Eyal explains how tech companies shift user behavior through deliberate design \u2014 how \u201cthe products and services we use habitually alter our everyday behavior, just as their designers intended.\u201d His central question cuts to the heart of the matter: How do companies, producing little more than bits of code displayed on a screen, seemingly control users\u2019 minds?<\/p>\n

The U.S. surgeon general has called social media a profound risk to youth mental health. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among teenagers have climbed in lockstep with smartphone adoption. This is not coincidence, but consequence.<\/p>\n

Read more How The University Of California Became A Stooge For China\u2019s Anti-America Warfare<\/a><\/p>\n

And yet when states try to give parents the tools to protect their children, the industry cries censorship and files lawsuits.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has been clear that while the First Amendment limits government censorship, it does not strip states of the authority to protect minors \u2014 particularly when doing so supports rather than supplants parental judgment. In Ginsberg v. New York,<\/em> the Court upheld age-based restrictions precisely because they helped parents, not government, make decisions for their children.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s long line of parental rights decisions \u2014 from Meyer v. Nebraska<\/em> to Pierce v. Society of Sisters<\/em> to Troxel v. Granville<\/em> \u2014 all rest on a single principle: \u201cThe child is not the mere creature of the State.\u201d SB 2420 stands firmly in that tradition.<\/p>\n

It does not tell any parent what apps to allow. It does not ban content. It does not impose the government\u2019s values on anyone\u2019s family. It ensures only that parents are present \u2014 and in control \u2014 before their child enters the digital marketplace.<\/p>\n

Critics warn that age verification is burdensome. But Americans verify their identity every day \u2014 to open bank accounts, board airplanes, buy cold medicine. App stores already collect this information at account creation. What they lack is not the capability to involve parents. What they lack is the will.<\/p>\n

Texas is leading a national movement. Legislatures across the country are recognizing what parents already know: that the digital world didn\u2019t come with safeguards, and that the companies profiting from children\u2019s attention have no financial incentive to build them.<\/p>\n

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals now has an opportunity to affirm something the Constitution has always guaranteed \u2014 that parents, not platforms, hold the first and final authority over their children\u2019s lives. Big Tech has lawyers, lobbyists, and limitless resources. Parents have the law, the Constitution, and the truth.<\/p>\n

Read more Poll Finds 76 Percent Of Ohio Voters Support Enshrining Photo ID In State Constitution<\/a><\/p>\n

That should be enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legislatures across the country are recognizing what parents already know: that the digital world didn\u2019t come with safeguards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[727],"tags":[1290,1291,1292,1293,1294,1295,1296,1297,1298,1299,1300,1301,1302,1303,86,1304,58],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-5th-circuit-court-of-appeals","tag-android","tag-app-store-accountability-act","tag-app-stores","tag-apple","tag-big-tech","tag-cell-phones","tag-fifth-circuit-court-of-appeals","tag-google","tag-meyer-v-nebraska","tag-parental-rights","tag-parents-rights","tag-pierce-v-society-of-sisters","tag-smart-phones","tag-texas","tag-troxel-v-granville","tag-u-s-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Should Control Your Child’s Phone \u2014 Not Silicon Valley - Property Transition Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=332\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Should Control Your Child’s Phone \u2014 Not Silicon Valley - Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Legislatures across the country are recognizing what parents already know: that the digital world didn\u2019t come with safeguards.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=332\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T14:39:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=332#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=332\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2\"},\"headline\":\"You Should Control Your Child’s Phone \u2014 Not Silicon Valley\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T14:39:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=332\"},\"wordCount\":863,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=332#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bc8299a5c4dd39828551e3b75c7c8b9e.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"5th circuit court of appeals\",\"Android\",\"App Store Accountability Act\",\"app stores\",\"Apple\",\"Big Tech\",\"cell phones\",\"Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals\",\"Google\",\"Meyer v. 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