8 in 10 Parents Across Party Lines Say Congress Must Pass Meaningful Child Protections — Not a Big Tech Giveaway Dressed Up as a Safety Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2026 — American parents are demanding that Congress protect their children from the harms of AI and they are watching legislators prepare to do the exact opposite. A new national survey by the National Parents Union shows overwhelming, bipartisan support for real AI guardrails, even as Congress advances H.R. 7757, the so-called Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act — a bill that strips away parental rights, guts stronger state protections, and hands the technology industry exactly what it wants: a legal shield.
The poll, conducted by Echelon Insights among 1,511 parents of K–12 public school students nationwide, found that 56% of parents say their child already uses generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or Character.ai. Among parents of high schoolers, that figure reaches 68%.
“Parents know exactly what’s at stake,” said Keri Rodrigues, President of the National Parents Union. “And what H.R. 7757 actually does is let tech companies write their own rules, strip states of the power to hold them accountable, and call it child safety. You do not get to put ‘kids’ in the name of a bill and then gut every protection that would actually keep kids safe.”
The NPU survey asked parents directly what they want from AI regulation — and the results are unambiguous. On every proposed guardrail tested, support topped 79%, and the numbers were nearly identical regardless of party affiliation.
H.R. 7757 is being sold as a child safety bill. It is a sweeping federal preemption package that would dismantle stronger state laws already protecting children, shield tech companies from accountability, and replace real guardrails with hollow policies that companies write for themselves.
The bill’s AI chatbot provisions, which parents overwhelmingly want strengthened, are riddled with escape hatches. Companies are exempt from AI regulations entirely if the chatbot function is deemed “incidental” to their primary service. Under this definition, the biggest platforms in the country — the ones already in your child’s pocket — can integrate AI chatbots and argue they are not “chatbot providers.” No regulations apply. No accountability follows.
The bill also defines “knowledge” of a minor user as actual knowledge or willful disregard — a criminal law standard that incentivizes platforms to look the other way. Under H.R. 7757, a company that deliberately avoids figuring out whether its users are children has no legal obligation to protect those children.
Meanwhile, the bill explicitly eliminates any duty of care that tech companies owe to minors — the foundational legal principle underlying active lawsuits filed by parents whose children have been harmed. State laws holding companies accountable for what they reasonably should have known would be wiped out. Parents whose children were hurt by these platforms would lose their day in court.
“Congress is about to hand Big Tech a get-out-of-jail-free card and call it a win for families,” Rodrigues said. “This bill does not protect our kids. It protects the companies that are hurting them. It guts the state laws that are actually working. It kills the lawsuits that parents have filed.”
###
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARENTS UNION
With more than 1,800 affiliated parent organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, the National Parents Union is the united, independent voice of modern American families. We channel the power of parents into powerful policies that improve the lives of children, families and communities across the United States. https://nationalparentsunion.org/