Connected and Protected: Insights from FOSI’s 2025 Online Safety Survey
Family Online Safety Institute May 28, 2025
As technology evolves and becomes further embedded into everyday life, understanding how families navigate online safety is more important than ever. The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), in partnership with Ipsos, conducted the 2025 Online Safety Survey to explore how children and parents experience the internet: what concerns them, what works well, and where challenges remain.
Conducted in the United States between February and March 2025, this nationally representative study surveyed 1,000 children aged 10 to 17 and 1,000 of their parents. The research shines a light on digital behaviors, device usage, parental involvement, and attitudes around risks ranging from social media to generative AI.
The findings offer a complex yet encouraging picture: although about only half of parents use formal parental controls, most are engaged in their children’s digital lives through household rules and open communication. In fact, nearly nine in ten children report feeling comfortable talking to their parents when something online makes them feel unsafe.
The report also highlights generational differences, reveals growing parental awareness of AI use, and identifies significant opportunities for industry and policymakers to improve online safety systems.
This research is part of FOSI’s ongoing biannual effort to track trends in online safety and provides actionable insights for families, technology companies, educators, and lawmakers.
Key Resources:
- Read the full press release
Get a quick overview of the survey results and top takeaways. - Download the full report
Access the complete findings, data visualizations, and analysis from the Online Safety Survey. - Read Alanna Powers’ blog on the findings
FOSI’s Research and Program Specialist Alanna Powers reflects on what the data means for families today. Her blog highlights practical insights for parents, emerging trends in youth online behavior, and how we can all help create safer digital spaces. - Explore our new “New Device Checklist” resource
A simple, family-friendly guide, inspired by these research findings, to help parents and caregivers set up new devices with safety in mind.
For press inquires about this research, please contact press@fosi.org.