Every few years, there’s a new idea that becomes so trendy, it gets stamped onto everything in sight. For the food industry, protein is currently that magic word. Stroll down any grocery aisle to find foods proudly flaunting bright new “high-protein” labels-even when nothing about the original recipe has changed to merit the rebrand or when the product itself is so deficient in nutritional value that adding some form of protein cannot make up for it. Protein sparkling water, protein pop tarts, and protein cereal are but a few of the high-protein trend cycle’s products. In Washington, kids’ online safety seems to be the legislative equivalent. Like protein, protecting children online is utterly necessary, deserves prioritization, and is genuinely good for families. Like “high protein!” labels, bills flaunting the cause of kids online safety often distract from or even hurt solutions offered by technology companies to improve the digital landscape for the safety of children.

The App Store Freedom Act was introduced by United States Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL) in May of this year as a push back against the traditional app store systems of Apple and Google in the name of “competition.” Upon its introduction, Reason Magazine collected statements from a variety of tech experts, concluding, “The App Store Freedom Act is not a victory for the free market or consumer choice. Instead, it seeks to plan the digital economy, forcing private companies to modify their operating systems while depriving consumers of their digital and financial security.”

Now, Representative Cammack is pushing for the bill to be included in a kids online safety package when the federal government reopens. Like its predecessor, the Open Apps Market Act, the App Store Freedom Act promises to fight “Big Tech” and create a more “fair” app store marketplace, but actually risks user security and companies’ freedom in the process. As of late, the bill’s advocates have strategically shifted their language from a market-oriented approach to that of kids online safety. This is a politically savvy switch and one that speaks to a troubling trend in tech regulation; characterizing government intervention in the free market as necessary for child safety, when in reality it is political posturing.

Shane Tews of the American Enterprise Institute aptly described this phenomenon as a “Trojan Horse” where the App Store Freedom Act “weakens one of the most effective parental tools in the digital marketplace—features like Apple’s Ask to Buy, which allows parents to approve every app their child downloads.” Just as the words “protein” and “pop tart” paired together should raise red flags, so too should abandoning free market principles in the name of safety.

The App Store Freedom Act is just the latest example of overreach wrapped in the language of children’s safety and increased oversight. This year marked a spike in age verification legislation, as lawmakers framed the submission of personal information to verify one’s age as a prudent safety measure. Those age verification measures that did pass were quickly challenged in court for their lack of Constitutional standing and clear overreach. Like the App Store Freedom Act, age verification practices jeopardize users’ privacy and digital safety while fundamentally changing the practices of private companies.

Luckily, technology companies are consistently developing and updating tools to help parents oversee their children’s online experience—whether that be on an app store or using a social media app. This year alone has marked tremendous progress in the parental oversight technology category and the Pelican Institute highlighted some of the most exciting developments in 2025 Tools for Keeping Kids Safe Online. Government intervention is no substitute for parental oversight, and tech resources are invaluable in making sure that oversight is effective and accessible. “Trojan Horse” style legislation cannot deliver on its promises, no matter how trendy the buzz words attached to it are, but educated and empowered caretakers in conversation with their children certainly can.

 

Links to Learn More

Evaluating the App Store Freedom Act | American Action Forum

The Other App Store Push| Punch Bowl News

Kids’ Online Safety Laws Could Dig a Graveyard for Speech and Privacy | Cato