An increasing number of people believe the internet is terrible for children—addictive, damaging to self-esteem, and a gateway to predators. Over the past year, several countries have implemented strict age verification or outright bans for minors. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, and a Pew survey found over half of Americans support banning social media for under-16s. Yet while politicians pursue extreme measures, a simpler solution exists: tax big tech to fund a public children's internet.
A children's public internet wouldn't be a separate service like France's Minitel, but rather a "public lane in the information superhighway," similar to children's public television. The goal is to fund new or existing online services that primarily serve children and operate without profit. Examples include a library-run, community-moderated Mastodon instance for young users; an open-source, non-monetized Roblox alternative; ad-free educational content; a protocol for reverse age verification; a local family activities portal; or a volunteer-moderated crafts forum.
The core problem is that commercial social media profits from engagement, leading to dark patterns, invasive ads, and underfunded moderation. Even well-meaning services are caught in this ecosystem. Current policy approaches—punishing companies or banning kids—are flawed: Australia's teen ban proved ineffective, age-gating is easily circumvented and harms privacy, and the U.S. lacks data privacy laws and enforcement integrity under the Trump administration.
A public children's internet tackles the issue from the opposite direction: expanding the ecosystem with better alternatives. Nonprofit services may be smaller, but they won't be cluttered with ads, microtransactions, or AI gimmicks. While some kids may prefer Instagram or TikTok, there's appeal in finding a space parents can't join. Early attempts like the kids.us domain failed, but today's internet is central to life, and a funded, well-designed public option could succeed.
Some argue kids just need to go offline, but as a parent of a toddler, I see the value in creating positive digital spaces. It's time to build a children's public internet.