Governments Are Starting to Regulate Attention: What Parents Should Know in 2026

TL;DR: Addictive and manipulative design is becoming a regulatory issue, not just a parenting one. The FTC documented dark patterns in 2022; the EU's Digital Services Act bans manipulative interfaces on online platforms; the UK Children's Code limits nudging children to give up data or privacy; New York's SAFE for Kids Act will restrict algorithmic feeds and night-time notifications for under-18s without parental consent; and Australia has required platforms to keep under-16s off accounts since 10 December 2025. Each is real progress, and each is narrower and slower than its headline. Your home setup still does most of the work.

This article summarises public sources for families. It is not legal advice.

Why this is happening now

For most of the last fifteen years, the question of how much time children spend on screens was treated as a private matter: a question of parenting, maybe of willpower. The design of the apps themselves was rarely on the table.

That has changed. In 2023, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on social media and youth mental health. It noted that up to 95 percent of 13 to 17 year olds report using a social media platform, more than a third "almost constantly", and concluded that there is not yet enough evidence to say social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents. The American Psychological Association published its own health advisory the same year.

Around the same time, regulators began describing the design tricks themselves. Here is what the main efforts actually do.

The FTC: naming the tricks (United States)

In September 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission published a staff report called Bringing Dark Patterns to Light. It uses a definition that has stuck: design practices that trick or manipulate users into making choices they would not otherwise have made and that may cause harm. The term itself was coined in 2010 by designer Harry Brignull.

The report focuses on four families of tactics: disguised ads, subscriptions and charges that are hard to cancel, key terms and fees buried out of sight, and tricks that push people to share more data. Two of its examples involve children directly: a case against an online learning service for young children over a confusing cancellation path, and earlier action over in-app purchases children could make without the account holder's involvement.

What it does: gives regulators, courts and the public a shared vocabulary, and signals which practices the FTC treats as unfair or deceptive.

What it does not do: it is a report, not a new law, and it focuses on money and data. It does not make infinite scroll or autoplay illegal.

The EU Digital Services Act: a general ban on manipulative interfaces

The EU's Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, contains what is often described as a general prohibition on dark patterns. Article 25 says online platforms must not design, organise or operate their interfaces in a way that deceives or manipulates the people using them, or otherwise materially distorts their ability to make free and informed decisions.

What it does: puts the burden on the platform, across the whole EU, and backs it with enforcement by national regulators and, for the largest platforms, the European Commission.

What it does not do: it does not list every engagement feature as banned. Whether a specific design, such as a particular streak or autoplay flow, crosses the line is decided case by case, and enforcement takes time.

The UK Children's Code: no nudging children out of their privacy

The UK Information Commissioner's Office runs the Age Appropriate Design Code, usually called the Children's Code. It applies to online services likely to be used by children in the UK. Its standard on nudge techniques says services should not use nudges to lead children to provide unnecessary personal data, turn off privacy protections, or lie about their age.

What it does: sets a design standard rooted in the best interests of the child, with privacy-protective settings as the default.

What it does not do: it is a data protection code. It limits nudging children out of their privacy; it is not a ban on engagement features as such.

New York's SAFE for Kids Act: feeds and night-time notifications

New York's Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act was signed in June 2024. It requires social media companies to restrict algorithmically personalised feeds for users under 18 unless a parent consents, offering a non-personalised feed such as a chronological one instead. It also requires parental consent before platforms send notifications to minors between midnight and 6 a.m.

On 28 July 2026, the state Attorney General released the final rules, including how platforms should determine a user's age and obtain parental consent. The statute takes effect 180 days after those rules become effective.

What it does: targets two of the specific mechanisms most linked to compulsive use, the personalised feed and the late-night buzz, rather than screens in general.

What it does not do: it applies in one state, only to platforms that fall within its scope, and it depends on age checks working in practice.

Australia: no social media accounts under 16

Australia's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 came into effect on 10 December 2025. Age-restricted platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from having accounts. The eSafety Commissioner oversees it, and an independent review of the law must begin within two years of that date.

What it does: sets a clear national minimum age for accounts on the biggest platforms, with penalties for platforms that do not take reasonable steps.

What it does not do: it targets accounts, not content that can be viewed without one. It depends on platforms' age assurance, and it has faced legal challenge. Families still decide what younger children see on shared and logged-out devices.

The pattern behind all of them

Put side by side, these efforts show the same direction of travel:

Effort	Where	Main target	Status
FTC dark patterns report	United States	Deceptive design around money and data	Published September 2022
Digital Services Act, Art. 25	European Union	Manipulative platform interfaces in general	In force, enforced case by case
Children's Code, nudge standard	United Kingdom	Nudging children out of data and privacy	In force
SAFE for Kids Act	New York	Personalised feeds and night-time notifications for under-18s	Final rules July 2026, takes effect 180 days after they are effective
Social Media Minimum Age Act	Australia	Accounts for under-16s on major platforms	In effect since 10 December 2025

The common thread is a shift in who is responsible. Instead of treating compulsive use as a failure of the user, these rules start to treat it as a design choice the company made. That is the same shift we argue for at home in It's Not a Willpower Problem.

What this means in your living room

Good news, slowly. Rules like these change industry defaults over years. Expect more chronological feed options, quieter nights for teenagers and fewer tricks at the cancel button, first in the places with the strictest laws.

Narrow by design. Each law targets specific mechanisms, specific platforms or specific places. Much of what makes a feed compulsive, as we list in Dark Patterns, Explained, remains legal almost everywhere.

Age checks are imperfect. Most of these rules depend on platforms knowing who is a child. That will improve, but for now, shared devices, borrowed phones and logged-out viewing all slip through.

Your settings still matter most. Regulation works on companies. What happens on the tablet in your kitchen at 9 p.m. is still shaped by your settings, your routines and the agreements your family makes, like the one in The Family Screen Agreement. For the longer view of where this movement is heading, see The Quiet Revolution.

Where Guardino fits

We started Guardino because we did not want families to wait for the law to catch up. It is a DNS service run by Guardino Technologies LLC in Wyoming, USA. Mind Shield, included on every plan, refuses to resolve a curated list of domains behind engagement machinery where those run on domains of their own. On paid plans, Mind Modes put calmer settings on a schedule, so the services you choose simply do not load after bedtime, which is the spirit of New York's quiet-night rule, at your house, starting tonight. Notifications travel through the phone's own push service, so switch those off in the device settings too.

It works through encrypted DNS on a per-profile address, sees domain names rather than pages or messages, and keeps logging off by default. It cannot change an app's design, and it does not replace the law or your conversations; it gives your family one more layer it controls. Read our manifesto for why we build this way, and see how it works for families.

There is a free plan with one profile and three devices. Family, with up to ten profiles, is $4.99 a month; your first paid subscription starts with a 14-day trial.

FAQ

Are there laws against addictive app design? A growing number. The EU's Digital Services Act bans manipulative platform interfaces, New York's SAFE for Kids Act restricts personalised feeds and night-time notifications for under-18s, and the FTC acts against deceptive design. Most everyday engagement features remain legal.

What does Australia's under-16 social media law do? Since 10 December 2025, major platforms must take reasonable steps to stop Australians under 16 from having accounts.

Does New York's SAFE for Kids Act apply now? It was signed in June 2024 and final rules were released on 28 July 2026. It takes effect 180 days after those rules become effective.

Do these laws mean parents no longer need to do anything? No. They are narrow, slow to enforce and stop at your front door. Your settings and family agreements still do most of the work.

Does the UK Children's Code ban infinite scroll? No. It says services must not nudge children to give up more personal data or weaken privacy settings. It is a data protection code, not a feature ban.

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Don't wait for the law to reach your living room

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