States are leading the charge on tech policy. For every one bill enacted at the federal level, more than 10 bills have been enacted at the state level.
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From left to right, Tomicah Tillemann, President of Project Liberty, Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty, and Spencer Cox, the Governor of Utah.
5 takeaways: States are reshaping digital America
Across the United States, the greatest progress in tech policy is happening at the state level. Nearly every state has passed, proposed, or is considering laws restricting phone use in schools. Nineteen states have enacted privacy legislation, and the number of tech bills being considered is rising rapidly. While the federal government has made modest strides, state lawmakers have stepped up—sending a clear message: The moment for action has arrived, and change is within reach. Earlier this month, 80 bipartisan leaders—including Governor Healey (MA), Governor Cox (UT), legislators from 17 states, and a diverse group of ecosystem partners—gathered in Boston for the State Leadership Summit on Digital Choice and the Future of Social Media. It was an invite-only event for state policymakers, organized by Project Liberty and The Anxious Generation. The Summit provided a forum for discussion about the actionable pathways for state-level leadership to shape a more responsible and accountable digital future. In this newsletter, we share five key takeaways from the Summit, which capture the moment we’re in, the momentum that’s building, and why a golden age of tech policy may lie ahead.
// Takeaway #1: There is public will and a groundswell of momentum to address digital harms.
Public concern over digital harms is surging. A 2024 Project Liberty Institute study found that over 90% of Americans support laws giving individuals the right to delete personal data and set default privacy settings for children.
Pew surveys from the same year show a majority of Americans want stronger regulation of Big Tech, and nearly half of teens now say social media has a mostly negative effect on their age group—up sharply from 2022.
We're at an inflection point: The distrust in Big Tech is both bipartisan and nationwide, leading state lawmakers to move at unprecedented speed and scale—many of whom were present at the State Leadership Summit.
// Takeaway #2: There is political will among state legislators.
Public demand is driving political action, which, in turn, is producing legislation on privacy, phone-free schools, and other technology issues. Consider the following graphs:
States are also taking on ambitious subjects. Utah passed the Digital Choice Act earlier this year to give social media users greater control over their online experience. It is becoming a policy blueprint that other states are considering. States from California to New York are advancing bills regulating issues arising from AI, including AI companions and deepfakes.
Deb Schmill, who spoke at the Summit and was a key supporter of phone- and device-free school bills in Massachusetts, told Project Liberty earlier this summer: “The fastest, most impactful way to change something is through legislation, even as slow as it is. If you can find the levers where you can actually get something passed, it's universal.” Passing legislation may feel slow, but the pace of state-to-state adoption of phone-free schools and bills like the Digital Choice Act has been rapid. For every one bill introduced at the federal level, more than 10 bills have been introduced at the state level. For every one bill enacted at the federal level, more than 10 bills have been enacted at the state level.
// Takeaway #3: Big Tech can’t outspend public will.
Big Tech is fighting back. They spent 3x as much on lobbying at the state level in recent years compared to a decade ago, and a single industry group has filed 22 lawsuits against state-level tech legislation since 2021 (see graphic below).
However, the priorities of Big Tech companies are out of step with those of everyday Americans. On Jonathan Haidt’s Substack After Babel, Casey Mock outlined the exact tactics that Big Tech is using to fight back. Earlier this year, Color of Change, the Consumer Federation of America, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center released a report exposing the Tech Industry Playbook to pass weak, ineffectual state-level privacy laws. The more people understand how Big Tech is fighting back, the better equipped they’ll be to rebuff their attacks.
The good news is that it’s working. When lawmakers listen to and harness the stories of parents, local businesses, and concerned constituents who have experienced the harms of Big Tech, they can pass laws.
// Takeaway #4: Today’s technology is capable of addressing the problems created by Big Tech companies.
The same technologies that can undermine privacy and autonomy also offer the tools for a healthier, user-controlled digital future. Open-source platforms, privacy-preserving infrastructure, and trust & safety tools are already making this possible.
One example is Frequency, a digital infrastructure platform developed by Project Liberty, which is giving millions of people control over their own data. Technologies like this, and others that exist today, can help enforce new laws, support data ownership, verify a person’s age, and enable initiatives such as phone-free schools.
// Takeaway #5: The same dynamics that underpin social media are accelerating with AI. It's time to act.
The same harms that fueled concern over social media are compounding in the era of AI. These systems are drawing in personal data, replacing in-person social and educational experiences, and supercharging the algorithms that drove so much debate over platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
This is already happening with the rise of AI agents, who promise to act on our behalf to book flights, send emails, scour the internet, and serve as our digital proxy—as long as we give them complete access to our personal data.
If left unchecked, today’s AI could entrench the same problems of surveillance, manipulation, and addiction on an even larger scale.
That’s why now is the moment to act, before these challenges become pervasive and today’s design choices harden into tomorrow’s standards. We have an opportunity to set safeguards and expectations early, instead of repeating the mistakes we made with social media.
The good news is that lawmakers aren’t waiting. State legislative sessions in 2024 and 2025 produced a surge of AI-related bills, signaling growing political will to meet this moment.
// The way forward
Participants at the Summit were optimistic about what’s ahead. The public, legal precedents, and technological innovations are all aligned to build a better internet. There’s much more work to be done, but there’s never been a better time and more impressive group of leaders working to effect rapid change.
📰 Other notable headlines
// 🔞 Protesting an age verification law in Mississippi, Bluesky has chosen to block access in the state rather than risk potential fines of up to $10,000 per violation, according to an article in WIRED. (Paywall).
// 🤔 An article in Noema Magazine argued that the best way forward with AI is to embrace a world of many AI personalities. (Free).
// ✍️ ChatGPT shaming is making our writing so much worse. People are cutting em dashes, skipping metaphors, and leaving in typos to prove they are human, according to an article in Slate. (Paywall).
// 🏥 “My relatives didn’t get a vote when I added my genetic profile to a crime-fighting database,” the author wrote in an article in MIT Technology Review, which explored the complex issues of medical data privacy. (Paywall).
// 📱 TikTok shifted its content moderation strategy to AI, leading to mass layoffs. The move was met with criticism from unions and online safety advocates, according to an article in Gizmodo. (Free).
// 🤖 Instead of tweaking our AI prompts to maximize AI productivity, an article in America Magazine argued that we should approach artificial intelligence with the same curiosity and respect we use in meaningful human conversations. (Free).
// 🤝 AI giants are racing to scoop up elusive real-world data. OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are creating partnerships and free offers in exchange for a steady stream of consumer data, according to an article in Rest of World. (Free).
Partner news
// Exploring the risks and responsibilities of agentic AI
August 28 | Virtual
As AI agents gain autonomy in 2025, All Tech Is Human is hosting a critical conversation on trust, safety, and privacy. The conversation will unpack the ethical and societal challenges of agentic AI, focusing on accountability, user dynamics, and the risks of misuse. Register here.
// Common Sense launches new digital literacy & well-being curriculum
Common Sense has unveiled its updated K–8 Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum, designed to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of today’s digital world. The free resource includes over 140 new lessons on AI literacy, mental health, cyberbullying, screen time, and more.
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