FOSI 2026 Annual Conference

8:00 – 9:00 AM | Registration, Networking Breakfast & Exhibits

9:00 – 9:10 AM | Opening Remarks

• Stephen Balkam, Founder and CEO, Family Online Safety Institute
• David Lieber, TikTok

9:10 – 9:30 AM | Coming of Age: New FOSI Research on Teens and Chatbots

FOSI will present new research exploring how teens use AI chatbots, including benefits, concerns, and the parental controls or tools that would help teens and parents feel safer. This session will highlight key findings and youth reflections on this important new research.

Speakers

• Sarah Bean, Director of Research and Programs, FOSI
• Alanna Powers-O’Brien, Research Specialist, FOSI
• Annika R., NoFiltr Youth Innovation Council

9:30 – 9:45 AM | Keynote

• Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA)

9:45 – 10:30 AM | Online Safety Across Borders: A Global Regulatory Perspective

As major online safety regulations take effect around the world, there is wide variation among countries about rules and how they are being enforced. This panel of regulators will share the frameworks they are putting into practice, how they share what they are learning to find common ground and harmonization among jurisdictions, and the important challenges they will face as online safety continues to be a policy priority around the globe.

Speakers

• Julie Inman Grant, eSafety Commissioner, Australia
• Almudena Lara, Policy Director, Child Safety, Ofcom
• Jeremy Godfrey, Executive Chairperson, Coimisiún na Meán
• Giulia Geneletti, Policy Officer, European Commission
• Anne Collier, Net Safety Collaborative

10:30 – 11:00 AM | Apple and the American Academy of Pediatrics: Research-Informed Product Design for Child Safety

Every family approaches technology differently, and parents are looking for simple tools and trusted guidance to help them decide what works best for their children. In this joint session, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Apple will explore how clinical and child development research can help inform parental controls. Specifically, panelists will discuss how expert guidance shaped Apple’s recent child safety updates, including the redesigned Screen Time experience and the new Time Allowances feature. They will also share insights that may be useful to others in the industry pursuing similar work. Additionally, attendees will learn about a new family guide from the AAP and Apple that walks parents through Apple’s new parental controls and helps them put expert guidance into everyday practice with their family.

• Raja Bose, Apple
• Dr. Molly O’Shea, MD, American Academy of Pediatrics’ Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.
• Stephen Balkam, FOSI

11:00 – 11:25 AM | Networking Break & Transition

11:25 – 12:10 PM | Morning Breakout Sessions

Breakout 1.1 | The Positive Power of Play

Protecting children online is a shared priority. How can we support safe, age-appropriate video game experiences that also give young people opportunities to learn, create, and connect? This discussion will explore what positive play looks like in practice, including how game design can support player wellbeing, inclusion, and environmental learning. Drawing on Raising Good Gamers, the panel will also examine how parents, caregivers, and educators can support positive play through curiosity, connections, and clear boundaries. Bringing together different perspectives, the discussion will explore all facets of “games for good” and how to elevate the video game experience.

• Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO, SYBO
• Arana Shapiro, Chief Operating and Programs Officer, Games For Change
• Ben Golant, Senior Director for Global Video Game Policy, Tencent Global

Breakout 1.2 | Where Online Safety Research Goes Next

What is the state of online safety research in 2026, and what are the most compelling questions researchers will seek to answer in the years ahead? This panel of leading researchers will share their perspectives in a conversation that addresses timely topics such as age-based restrictions, generative AI, and what young people really need to help them stay safe online.

• Mary Madden, Adjunct Professor & Researcher, Georgetown University
• Amanda Lenhart, Senior Fellow, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
• Craig Watkins, University of Texas at Austin
• Mindy Brooks, Google
• Sarah Bean, Director of Research and Programs, FOSI

Breakout 1.3 | Digital Literacy for the World We Live In

Since the earliest days of the internet, digital literacy education has been an essential tool to empower young people to benefit from the online world, think critically, and stay safe. But in a fast-changing AI-driven environment, what does effective digital literacy education mean today? This panel features leaders who will share how their organizations approach this question in different ways, highlight new initiatives like FOSI’s Miles and Milestones, and ultimately explore what young people need today and tomorrow.

• Trisha Prabhu, CEO, ReThink Citizens
• Tay Moore, Associate, Education and Society Program, Aspen Institute
• Jeffrey DeMarco, Senior Technical Advisor, Protecting Children from Digital Harm, Save the Children
• Morag Mwenya M. Neill-Johnson, Centre for Public Impact
• Kaylin Peete, Program Specialist, FOSI

Breakout 1.4 | Emerging Technologies and Building Age-Appropriate Digital Experiences

Rapidly changing technologies create both new opportunities and challenges to building age-appropriate digital experiences. In this session, industry, research, and civil society representatives will explore new approaches to age assurance, personalization, and other safeguards, and the questions that come with putting these tools into practice.

• Holly Hawkins, Director of Youth Policy, Future of Privacy Forum
• Sarah Scheffler, Assistant professor, Carnegie Mellon University
• Deepanker Saxena, Head of Product, Document Verification, Socure
• Bobby DeNault, Head of Enforcement and Legal Counsel, Kalshi
• Larry Irving, President and CEO, The Irving Group

Breakout 1.5 | Reaching Parents Where They Are

Parents navigate a digital landscape that changes quickly, yet reaching them with useful, timely guidance remains a challenge for industry and civil society alike. FOSI will announce new parenting programming and bring together experts to discuss what it takes to connect with parents in 2026 and provide support that meets families’ evolving needs.

• Patricia Vance, President, ESRB
• Donnell Probst, Executive Director, NAMLE
• Debbie Berlyn, Executive Director, Project GOAL
• Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov, Global Head of Parental Advocacy. Roblox
• Jordan Bivings Glover, COO & Head of Industry Engagement, FOSI, Moderator

12:25 – 1:15 PM | Networking Lunch

• Sponsored by Sony Interactive Entertainment

1:25 – 1:30 PM | Afternoon Welcome Remarks

1:30 – 1:50 PM | Fireside Chat with Dr. Becky

For the first time in history, we’re raising kids in a world that never turns off. Dr. Becky Kennedy gets it. As a mom of three and the founder of Good Inside, she’s working to make sure no one has to figure this out alone, giving families practical tools to set limits and build healthy tech habits that support children’s long-term development.

In this fireside chat, FOSI Founder & CEO Stephen Balkam sits down with Dr. Becky to unpack how she thinks about screens at home: setting boundaries, what’s actually happening in young brains, and why learning to tolerate frustration and boredom is so important for growing up right now. They’ll explore all of it through the lens of our job as parents, dig into the evidence-based strategies that make the biggest difference, and share insights on how the broader online child safety community can best support today’s moms and dads.

• Dr. Becky Kennedy, Clinical Psychologist, Founder, Good Inside
• Stephen Balkam, FOSI, Moderator

1:50 – 2:10 PM | Putting Kids First: Designing Products Families Can Trust

The best products for children do more than keep them safe. They help kids learn, grow, and make sense of the world around them, and they earn the confidence of the families who bring them home. That kind of trust gets built into a product long before it ever reaches a child, shaped by countless design decisions most people never see. In this conversation, hosted by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, makers from Amazon Kids, Sesame Street, and LeapFrog talk about how they actually do the work. Panelists get into what it really takes to design with children rather than just for them, how developmental and learning science shapes the choices behind a product, and where the trust parents feel actually comes from. You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of what it means to build learning products that are genuinely worthy of kids and the families who rely on them.

• Medha Tare, Senior Director of Research, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Sesame Workshop
• Clement Chau, Vice President of Learning, Leapfrog 
• Mahsa Bakhshei, Research Lead, Amazon Kids

2:10 – 2:25 PM | Online Safety on Capitol Hill

As a founding co-chair of the Kids Online Safety Caucus and a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Jake Auchincloss is a key online safety voice in Congress. In this session he will discuss some of his thoughtful and promising legislative proposals, highlight the bipartisan nature of this work, and react to the latest online safety policy developments.

• Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D-MA)
• Andrew Zack, FOSI

2:40 – 3:25 PM | Afternoon Breakout Sessions

Breakout 2.1 | The First Message Asks for Nothing

Some scams work on anyone. Others only work because of a relationship: a child’s “new number,” a call about a relative in trouble, a friend you have not heard from in a long time. The first message often asks for nothing. Rather than exploiting a technical vulnerability, these scams borrow the trust inside a family. They can reach every member, from a teenager to a grandparent, and the person who is deceived is often not the person who pays. Drawing on real, anonymized scam samples analyzed by Bitdefender Labs, this talk shows how family scams are built and how the same stories travel across countries and languages. It also looks at how AI is changing these scams, and what the industry can do: explain scams, not only block them.

• Codrut Georgian Artene, Team Lead, Innovation & Technology, Bitdefender

Breakout 2.2 | Teens, Tech, and Mental Health

With technology at the heart of many teens’ lives, adults often feel concerned about the role of social media and AI chatbots in teens’ mental health. This session will focus on what research tells us about technology and mental health, and what we can do to better support today’s youth.

Speakers

• Lucy Thomas OAM, Founder and CEO, PROJECT ROCKIT
• Patricia Noel, LMSW, Global Head, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Discord
• Filipe Batiwale, Online Safety Commission, Fiji
• Whitney Buchmann, Founder & Principal Consultant, Illustra Impact

Breakout 2.3 | Addressing Illegal Harms: Coordinated Action to Stop Criminal Activity Online

Online platforms face an evolving range of illegal activity, from child sexual exploitation and abuse to other forms of criminal behavior. This session will bring together experts to discuss how these harms are changing, the challenges of identifying and responding to them, and where stronger collaboration across sectors is needed.

• Samantha Woolfe, Executive Director, INHOPE
• Dr. Erin Saltman, CEO, Tech Coalition
• Derek Benner, CEO, Our Rescue
• Filipe Batiwale, Online Safety Commission, Fiji
• Tim Sparapani, Principal, SPQR Strategies

Breakout 2.4 | Safer Play: Building Better Gaming Experiences

Video games are an important part of young people’s digital lives from early childhood to young adulthood, with opportunities to play, socialize, and learn. This session brings together experts from game platforms across the youth age span to highlight best practices for safer gaming experiences, including the tools, policies, and design choices that can help players engage and connect safely.

• Abby Jenkins, Senior Director of Content, PBS KIDS
• Tracy Elizabeth, Nex
• Logan Smith, Epic Games
• Matt Soeth, Thriving in Games Group

Breakout 2.5 | Shaping Policy in the States

From legislation to litigation, states are taking the lead shaping kids’ digital experiences. This session will discuss how state policymaking is driving online safety standards and what role recent court rulings will play in the ongoing debate.

• Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, California State Assembly, 69th District
• Nicole Lopez, Partner, Orrick
• Caitlin Niedermeyer, Global Affairs, OpenAI
• Marissa Edmund, State Policy Lead, FOSI

3:25 – 3:55 PM | Networking break

3:55 – 4:15 PM | Direct from the Experts (No, the Other Ones): Youth on Growing Up with Gen AI

Young people are demonstrating thoughtful agency, critical curiosity, and active engagement with emerging technology like generative AI. When it comes to navigating both risks and opportunities, including their perspectives are critical to ensuring guidance and guardrails can meet them where they are. This panel will elevate the voices of youth, along with practitioners from Google and UNICEF to discuss what young people are saying about generative AI and how the online child safety community can best support them.

• Steven Edwin Vosloo, UNICEF Innocenti
• Katie, #HalfTheStory Teen Tech Council Representative
• Chyanne, UNICEF USA National Youth Council Representative
• Jennifer Kotler Clarke, Head of Research & Content Strategy for the Kids & Family Team, Google

4:15 – 4:45 PM | Industry Insights and Innovations Session

4:45 – 5:05 PM | Beyond the Ban: A Conversation About Safety, Connection, and Where Kids Go Next

Calls for age-based social media bans often focus on where young people should not be online, with less attention to where they may go instead. Drawing on John Pizzuro’s experience investigating online child exploitation and shaping safety policy, this conversation will explore how risks can shift to less visible online spaces when access is restricted. Using Snap’s safety efforts as a case study, the panel will examine how safety-by-design, parental tools, education, and intervention can help protect teens while preserving opportunities for connection and independence, and consider what these lessons mean for policymakers developing approaches to youth online safety.

• Kevin Branzetti, Co-founder & CEO, National Child Protection Task Force
• Youth from Snap’s Council for Digital Well-Being
• John Pizzuro, Head of US Law Enforcement & Safety Policy, Snap

5:05 – 5:25 PM | Industry Insights and Innovations Session

5:25 – 5:45 PM | Fireside chat

• Stephen Balkam, Founder and CEO, Family Online Safety Institute
• Andrew Keen, Author & Broadcaster, Keen on America

5:45 – 5:50 PM | Closing Remarks

• Stephen Balkam, Founder and CEO, Family Online Safety Institute

6:00 – 7:30 PM | Evening Reception