State of Child Safety 2026
A comprehensive analysis of global child safety legislation, community standards, and parental controls — compiled from Phosra's compliance database.
91
Laws tracked
52
Jurisdictions
30
Community standards
21
Parental controls
Child safety legislation is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. As of March 2026, Phosra tracks 91 laws across 52 jurisdictions in 29 countries. Of these, 54 have been enacted into law and 3 have passed at least one chamber. Another 29 are actively pending or proposed.
Simultaneously, community-driven movements are reshaping norms around childhood technology use. The 30 community standards in our registry represent 0 family adoptions and 0 schools. Meanwhile, the parental controls ecosystem spans 21 products covering 64 rule categories — though coverage remains uneven across regulatory requirements.
This report synthesizes data from Phosra's compliance database to provide a snapshot of the child safety landscape as of early 2026 — a resource for policymakers, platforms, and families navigating this rapidly evolving space.
91 Laws Across 29 Countries
The global regulatory response to child safety online has reached a tipping point. Every major jurisdiction now has enacted or pending legislation addressing minors' digital wellbeing.
54
3
7
22
5
By Jurisdiction
| Jurisdiction | Total | Enacted | Passed | Pending/Proposed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US State | 50 | 23 | 3 | 19 |
| Asia-Pacific | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| US Federal | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| European Union | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Americas | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Middle East & Africa | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 91 | 54 | 3 | 29 |
Legislation to Watch in 2026
These laws represent the most impactful regulatory developments for platforms operating services accessible to children.
KOSA
PendingUnited States (Federal)
Establishes a duty of care for platforms, requiring them to disable addictive features and algorithmic feeds for minors by default.
COPPA 2.0
PendingUnited States (Federal)
Extends COPPA to teens under 17, bans all targeted advertising to minors, and creates an Eraser Button for data deletion. Passed the Senate 91-3 as part of KOSMA in July 2024 (118th Congress) but the House never voted and the bill expired Jan 3, 2025. Reintroduced in the 119th Congress as S.836 (Senate, March 2025, Senators Markey & Cassidy) and H.R.6291 (House, November 2025). Not yet signed into law.
FTC COPPA Rule
EnactedUnited States (Federal)
The FTC's COPPA enforcement rule requiring verifiable parental consent for data collection on children under 13. The FTC finalized major amendments in January 2025 (5-0 vote), published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2025, with legal effect June 23, 2025 and a full compliance deadline of April 22, 2026. The 2025 amendments add mandatory information security programs, data retention/deletion policies, enhanced direct notice requirements, expanded personal information definitions (biometrics, government IDs), new consent methods, and separate consent for third-party data sharing.
EU DSA
EnactedEuropean Union (27 member states)
Comprehensive EU regulation banning targeted ads to minors and requiring risk assessments for algorithmic systems.
UK AADC
EnactedUnited Kingdom
Duty of care requiring platforms to protect children from harmful content, restrict adult-child DMs, and implement age verification.
CA SB 976
EnactedCalifornia, United States
Bans addictive feeds and notifications during school hours for minors. Platforms must default to chronological feeds.
AU OSA
EnactedAustralia
Establishes the eSafety Commissioner with powers to enforce age verification and removal of content harmful to children.
30 Community Movements
Beyond legislation, grassroots movements and community-driven standards are reshaping norms around children's technology use — from phone-free schools to screen time pledges.
30
Total standards
23
Active
0
Family adoptions
0
Schools participating
Community movements like Four Norms, Wait Until 8th, and 1000 Hours Outside are translating advocacy into enforceable digital rules that families can adopt through Phosra.
21 Parental Control Products
The parental controls market spans dedicated apps, built-in platform tools, ISP-level solutions, and institutional products — with significant variation in capability coverage.
16
Dedicated apps
5
Built-in controls
8
API-accessible
64
Rule categories
Rule Category Coverage
How well do existing parental control products cover the 64 rule categories defined across legislation and community standards?
Most Covered Categories
Least Covered Categories
These gaps represent opportunities for new tooling and regulatory guidance.
About This Report
All data in this report is computed directly from Phosra's compliance database — the same dataset that powers the Compliance Hub, Community Standards, and Parental Controls sections of the platform.
The legislative database is maintained through a combination of automated monitoring (weekly scans using AI-powered bill tracking) and manual review by the Phosra compliance team. Laws are classified by jurisdiction, status, and the rule categories they address.
Community standards are sourced from publicly available movement guidelines and pledges. Parental control capabilities are documented through product research and API testing. Coverage ratings (full, partial, none) reflect each product's ability to enforce specific rule categories.
This report is published as of March 1, 2026. Data reflects the most recent updates to the Phosra compliance database.
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