New Focus Group: Parents Support Stronger Online Safeguards in Agreement Between the States and Meta

Parents Urged More Platforms To Adopt Safeguards

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Coalition to Empower our Future (CEF) today released the results of a focus group with parents across the country who voiced support for new safeguards designed to protect young people online and give families more control over how children use social media. The focus group included conversations with parents across the country following the announcement of an agreement between the states and Meta to adopt new safety features.

"Parents want practical tools that help them protect their kids online," said Glen Weiner, executive director of CEF. "This agreement is an important step forward, but these safeguards should not stop with one platform. Every app and platform where young people spend time should implement similar protections."

Parents highlighted screen-time limits, protections during school and nighttime hours, and greater control over algorithm-based feeds as important steps within a broader approach to youth mental health and wellbeing. They also called on other platforms and policymakers to take additional action to protect young people online.

What Parents Are Saying

• Amber B.: "I think that there's a big difference when [my son is] on [social media] for two hours or less versus when he's on it for three or four hours at night ... I love that they're actually making timeframes where they can't use it at night, where they're blocking it during school hours … I think [that] is very forward-thinking of them … I feel like it's what parents want to see."
  
  
• Amir R.: "Well, this is moving progress forward, which is a good thing … If I have to put this in order, the top one I would choose is the ability to turn off the algorithm-based [feed], because those are the formulas that actually target users based on what they like, what they don't like – and sometimes they're actually getting fed what they don't like."
  
  
• Amber B.: "I think it'll help kids be able to self-regulate a little bit better if they really are on their phones [for] less time. And I do think that they will have to follow suit…"
  
  
• John S.: "I think every platform should adopt something similar."
  
  
• Amber B.: "I like the limiting of time on the phone. I like shutting down during typical school hours. I like not being able to use it at night."
  
  
• John S.: "Codify into national law what they need to do to protect children."
  
  
• Jessica N.: "I think it should be their number one priority, to make it a law to protect these kids."

Participants in the focus group echoed parents across the country who have expressed strong support for the agreement and industry-wide adoption. See more research from CEF on how parents are reacting to the survey HERE and reactions from parents across the country HERE. 

The focus group was conducted with Mercury Analytics on Thursday, September 3, 2026, among parents across the country. 

About the Coalition to Empower our Future

Coalition to Empower our Future is an organization bringing together a range of voices to fully inform solutions that empower youth, parents, communities, and society. The Coalition to Empower our Future supports solutions that are inclusive of the full spectrum of factors impacting youth mental health. Former Montana Governor Steve Bullock, former U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo, and Dr. Caroline Carney, a board-certified psychiatrist and internist, serve on the board of directors of the Coalition to Empower our Future.

To learn more, visit empowerourfuturecoalition.com or follow Coalition to Empower our Future on Facebook, X and YouTube.

SOURCE Coalition to Empower our Future