Casey Stefanski: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Casey Stefanski.jpg|alt=Casey Stefanski|thumb| Casey Stefanski ]] | |||
Casey Stefanski is an American child safety advocate and the Executive Director of the [[Digital Childhood Alliance]], a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization founded in 2025. She is a mother of three and a retired collegiate athlete who has worked in child safety advocacy since 2012.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Digital Childhood Alliance |date=April 14, 2025 |title=Meet Digital Childhood Alliance Executive Director: Casey Stefanski. |url=https://www.digitalchildhoodalliance.org/meet-digital-childhood-alliance-executive-director-casey-stefanski/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/ctSaM |archive-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref> | Casey Stefanski is an American child safety advocate and the Executive Director of the [[Digital Childhood Alliance]], a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization founded in 2025. She is a mother of three and a retired collegiate athlete who has worked in child safety advocacy since 2012.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Digital Childhood Alliance |date=April 14, 2025 |title=Meet Digital Childhood Alliance Executive Director: Casey Stefanski. |url=https://www.digitalchildhoodalliance.org/meet-digital-childhood-alliance-executive-director-casey-stefanski/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/ctSaM |archive-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref> | ||
==Career== | ==Career== | ||
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===National Center on Sexual Exploitation (2012–2025)=== | ===National Center on Sexual Exploitation (2012–2025)=== | ||
Prior to her current role, Stefanski spent over a decade at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), an organization focused on combating sexual exploitation. She held multiple positions, including Director of Development, Deputy Executive Director, and Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Events.<ref name=":0" /> | Prior to her current role, Stefanski spent over a decade at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), an organization focused on combating sexual exploitation. She held multiple positions, including Director of Development, Deputy Executive Director, and Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Events.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
===Digital Childhood Alliance (2025–present)=== | ===Digital Childhood Alliance (2025–present)=== | ||
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===Tech Company Funding Disclosure (May 2025)=== | ===Tech Company Funding Disclosure (May 2025)=== | ||
In May 2025, Stefanski faced scrutiny over undisclosed tech company funding after refusing to answer direct questions about the organization's donors. | |||
During testimony before the Louisiana State Senate Finance Committee on May 29, 2025, Louisiana Senator Jay Morris directly asked Stefanski, "Are you funded by tech companies?" Stefanski initially deflected and claimed she felt uncomfortable answering the question. When pressed for a direct yes-or-no answer, she eventually acknowledged that the Digital Childhood Alliance receives funding from tech companies but refused to identify which ones.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=McKendry |first=Nolan |date=May 29, 2025 |title=Senator presses Digital Childhood Alliance on tech industry ties |url=https://www.thecentersquare.com/louisiana/article_e97200f8-13d0-4b1f-90a9-e9a7093d329f.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250530051109/https://www.thecentersquare.com/louisiana/article_e97200f8-13d0-4b1f-90a9-e9a7093d329f.html |archive-date=May 30, 2025 |work=Louisiana}}</ref><blockquote>"Are you funded by tech companies?" Morris asked. Stefanski "squirmed, deflected and claimed she 'didn't feel comfortable' answering." When Morris pressed for a simple yes or no answer, Stefanski eventually admitted they receive tech company funding but flatly refused to name which companies.</blockquote>When Senator Morris asked, "So, you're not going to tell us who's actually supporting it?" Stefanski declined to provide specifics beyond naming the father of the Digital Childhood Alliance's founder as the organization's largest individual donor.<ref name=":2" /> | During testimony before the Louisiana State Senate Finance Committee on May 29, 2025, Louisiana Senator Jay Morris directly asked Stefanski, "Are you funded by tech companies?" Stefanski initially deflected and claimed she felt uncomfortable answering the question. When pressed for a direct yes-or-no answer, she eventually acknowledged that the Digital Childhood Alliance receives funding from tech companies but refused to identify which ones.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=McKendry |first=Nolan |date=May 29, 2025 |title=Senator presses Digital Childhood Alliance on tech industry ties |url=https://www.thecentersquare.com/louisiana/article_e97200f8-13d0-4b1f-90a9-e9a7093d329f.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250530051109/https://www.thecentersquare.com/louisiana/article_e97200f8-13d0-4b1f-90a9-e9a7093d329f.html |archive-date=May 30, 2025 |work=Louisiana}}</ref><blockquote>"Are you funded by tech companies?" Morris asked. Stefanski "squirmed, deflected and claimed she 'didn't feel comfortable' answering." When Morris pressed for a simple yes or no answer, Stefanski eventually admitted they receive tech company funding but flatly refused to name which companies.</blockquote>When Senator Morris asked, "So, you're not going to tell us who's actually supporting it?" Stefanski declined to provide specifics beyond naming the father of the Digital Childhood Alliance's founder as the organization's largest individual donor.<ref name=":2" /> | ||
===Meta | ===Meta funding exposed (December 2025)=== | ||
In December 2025, investigative reporting revealed that [[Meta]] (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) is a significant funder of the Digital Childhood Alliance—information that Stefanski had declined to disclose during her May 2025 legislative testimony.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Lenney |first=Brian |date=December 8, 2025 |title=Meta's manipulation disguised as child safety. |url=https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/12/07/child-safety-bill-backed-by-meta/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260215163841/https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/12/07/child-safety-bill-backed-by-meta/ |archive-date=February 15, 2026 |work=Deseret News}}</ref> | In December 2025, investigative reporting revealed that [[Meta]] (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) is a significant funder of the Digital Childhood Alliance—information that Stefanski had declined to disclose during her May 2025 legislative testimony.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Lenney |first=Brian |date=December 8, 2025 |title=Meta's manipulation disguised as child safety. |url=https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/12/07/child-safety-bill-backed-by-meta/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260215163841/https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2025/12/07/child-safety-bill-backed-by-meta/ |archive-date=February 15, 2026 |work=Deseret News}}</ref> | ||
According to reporting, Meta also acknowledged having "collaborated with [[Digital Childhood Alliance]]."<ref name=":3" /> Multiple sources, including Insurance Journal, documented that Meta is helping fund the organization.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Birnbaum |first=Emily |date=July 25, 2025 |title=Meta Clashes With Apple, Google Over Child Age Check Legislation. |url=https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2025/07/25/833246.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250925014626/https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2025/07/25/833246.htm |archive-date=September 25, 2025 |work=Insurance Journal}}</ref> | According to reporting, Meta also acknowledged having "collaborated with [[Digital Childhood Alliance]]."<ref name=":3" /> Multiple sources, including Insurance Journal, documented that Meta is helping fund the organization.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Birnbaum |first=Emily |date=July 25, 2025 |title=Meta Clashes With Apple, Google Over Child Age Check Legislation. |url=https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2025/07/25/833246.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250925014626/https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2025/07/25/833246.htm |archive-date=September 25, 2025 |work=Insurance Journal}}</ref> | ||
===Conflict of | ===Conflict of interest allegations=== | ||
Critics have raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, arguing that Stefanski's organization is advocating for policies that directly benefit its largest funder, Meta, while claiming to represent independent child safety advocacy.<ref name=":3" /> | Critics have raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, arguing that Stefanski's organization is advocating for policies that directly benefit its largest funder, Meta, while claiming to represent independent child safety advocacy.<ref name=":3" /> | ||
The concern centers on the [[App Store Accountability Act]], which would require comprehensive age verification systems at app stores. Critics argue that such systems disproportionately burden Meta's smaller competitors while benefiting Meta, which already has extensive verification and data collection infrastructure.<ref name=":3" /><blockquote>The organization claiming to represent concerned parents is quietly funded by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The same company whose own internal research proved its platforms devastate teenage girls' mental health is now bankrolling campaigns that blame everyone except itself.</blockquote>Critics contend that the ASAA "accomplishes nothing except creating expensive verification systems that [[Meta]]'s competitors must build and pay for."<ref name=":3" /> | The concern centers on the [[App Store Accountability Act]], which would require comprehensive age verification systems at app stores. Critics argue that such systems disproportionately burden Meta's smaller competitors while benefiting Meta, which already has extensive verification and data collection infrastructure.<ref name=":3" /><blockquote>The organization claiming to represent concerned parents is quietly funded by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The same company whose own internal research proved its platforms devastate teenage girls' mental health is now bankrolling campaigns that blame everyone except itself.</blockquote>Critics contend that the ASAA "accomplishes nothing except creating expensive verification systems that [[Meta]]'s competitors must build and pay for."<ref name=":3" /> | ||
===501(c)(4) | ===501(c)(4) status and regulatory structure=== | ||
The [[Digital Childhood Alliance]]'s organization as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit allows it to engage in unlimited political advocacy and lobbying while not being required to publicly disclose its donors.<ref name=":2" /> This legal structure explains why Stefanski was able to decline answering questions about her organization's funding sources during legislative testimony. | The [[Digital Childhood Alliance]]'s organization as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit allows it to engage in unlimited political advocacy and lobbying while not being required to publicly disclose its donors.<ref name=":2" /> This legal structure explains why Stefanski was able to decline answering questions about her organization's funding sources during legislative testimony. | ||
==Public | ==Public statements and positioning== | ||
Stefanski has stated that parental controls and existing tools are insufficient to protect children online, arguing that technology companies currently treat 13-year-olds as adults on their platforms. She has advocated for raising the age of digital accountability to 16.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sumlin |first=Hayden |date=November 10, 2025 |title=Legislator workshops legislation to keep kids safe online. |url=https://www.appenmedia.com/news/legislator-workshops-legislation-to-keep-kids-safe-online/article_553c0a56-2c27-406d-9add-37515a317321.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203020527/https://www.appenmedia.com/news/legislator-workshops-legislation-to-keep-kids-safe-online/article_553c0a56-2c27-406d-9add-37515a317321.html |archive-date=December 3, 2025 |work=appenmedia.com}}</ref> | Stefanski has stated that parental controls and existing tools are insufficient to protect children online, arguing that technology companies currently treat 13-year-olds as adults on their platforms. She has advocated for raising the age of digital accountability to 16.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sumlin |first=Hayden |date=November 10, 2025 |title=Legislator workshops legislation to keep kids safe online. |url=https://www.appenmedia.com/news/legislator-workshops-legislation-to-keep-kids-safe-online/article_553c0a56-2c27-406d-9add-37515a317321.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203020527/https://www.appenmedia.com/news/legislator-workshops-legislation-to-keep-kids-safe-online/article_553c0a56-2c27-406d-9add-37515a317321.html |archive-date=December 3, 2025 |work=appenmedia.com}}</ref> | ||