Bereaved Parents, Advocates, & Heat Initiative Stage DC Protest Against AI Preemption Amid Defense Bill Negotiations

Parents and advocates projected “Stop [AI Czar David] Sacks' AI Preemption”, “AI Amnesty Harms Kids”, and “Don't Let AI Buy the Government” 

Protest comes ahead of House child safety hearing and negotiations over adding dangerous AI provisions to the year-end defense bill

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bereaved families who have lost children to online harms caused by social media and other big tech platforms on Monday staged a protest against the ongoing attempts to force policy to preempt state-level AI regulations into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The parents projected the messages “Stop [AI Czar David] Sacks' AI Preemption”, “AI Preemption Harms Kids”, and “Don't Let AI Buy the Government” onto the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, blocks from the U.S. Capitol and during Floor votes.

AI Czar David Sacks has been leading the push for AI preemption policy, which would prevent states from making laws regulating artificial intelligence. Reporting indicates that some members of Congress plan to try to attach AI preemption, which would block state-level AI regulations similar to a plan reportedly pushed by AI Czar David Sacks, and weakened child safety provisions to the year-end NDAA.

The families, who included mother-advocates Lori Schott and Maurine Molak, staged the protest on the eve of the House Energy and Commerce hearing on a weaker version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) than what was introduced in the Senate, as well as 18 other online child safety bills. The protest was supported by online child safety advocates from Heat Initiative, ParentsTogether Action , and Young People’s Alliance.

"Parents are already seeing AI-powered algorithms manipulate their children's feeds and serve them harmful content, and Big Tech wants to use watered-down kids safety legislation as a bargaining chip to prevent states from doing anything about it,” said Lori Schott, whose 18-year-old daughter, Annalee, died by suicide after suffering from depression caused by TikTok. “This is a worst of all worlds legislative nightmare. We need strong kids safety legislation and policy that will regulate AI to ensure it is safe for all users. Federal AI preemption would abandon families at the very moment we need protection most, blocking states from safeguarding our children against AI harms while Washington offers nothing but empty promises in return."

“While Big Tech lobbies for AI amnesty that would prevent states' from protecting kids, children across America remain vulnerable to the harms caused by AI, social media, and algorithmic exploitation,” said Sarah Gardner, CEO of Heat Initiative. “Congress should be focused on passing meaningful legislation that actually keeps kids safe online, not rewarding the industry's inaction by stripping away state-level protections that protect our most vulnerable. States have stepped up to fill the void left by federal paralysis, and they should be applauded for protecting their children, not punished with preemption measures that serve corporate interests and tech billionaires over child safety."

"Big Tech is pushing Congress to block states from protecting children against AI-driven harms like manipulative algorithms, harmful content, exploitation, and grooming while offering no federal safeguards in return," said Shelby Knox, Director of Online Safety at ParentsTogether Action . "Parents will not accept a system where tech companies use preemption as a shield to deploy increasingly powerful AI systems on our kids without accountability, oversight, or the state-level protections that are our last line of defense."

“For young people and parents, federal AI preemption means losing the only real protections we’ve won.” Ava Smithing, Advocacy Director at the Young People’s Alliance. “States have passed laws that protect kids from manipulative chatbots and addictive algorithms, these protections came from years of families and advocates fighting while Congress failed to pass meaningful guardrails. For them to come forward now and threaten to erase existing state laws while having no concrete plan for regulation is an undeniable admittance that American families are not the priority.”

The Senate version of The Kids Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to put the well-being of children first by providing an environment that is safe by default, including by:

• Requiring platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings for kids by default.
• Providing parents with new controls to help protect their children and spot harmful behaviors, and giving parents and educators a dedicated channel to report harmful behavior.
• Creating a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for tobacco and alcohol.
• requiring independent audits and research into how social media platforms impact the well-being of kids and teens.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/51da228a-851f-407a-99d1-0db2bfd39cde