FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 5, 2026
Contact: Ashwin Verghese, [email protected], 717-676-8584
Disable YouTube and Gemini AI, Orgs and Experts Tell Biggest Schools
Thirteen leading organizations and experts on technology in schools sent an open letter to the 150 largest American school districts today, requesting that they immediately disable YouTube and Gemini AI on school-issued devices and investigate student internet use more broadly to ensure student safety.
The letter advises school districts of various litigation developments and public reporting that have crystallized the potential safety and legal risks associated with YouTube, Gemini, and student internet access.
The letter notes that even though over 1,000 school districts have sued YouTube for allegedly addicting and harming their students, many of the same districts still enable YouTube on school-issued devices.
The letter also highlights risks related to Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, which Google recently enabled on many school-issued devices without first seeking permission from schools or parents. Common Sense Media has rated Gemini K–12 as “high risk” and found that Gemini K–12 “surfaces inappropriate content, poses mental health risks, and has poor boundaries.”
The letter describes the ways in which Google has sought to shift the legal risks of its products to school districts — including by arguing that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields Google from liability when students are allegedly harmed by Google products on school-issued devices.
Keena McAvoy, co-founder of DMV Unplugged, who helped organize the letter, commented: “For years, large tech companies have pushed their products into classrooms, seeking to capture our children’s attention. When students have allegedly been harmed by those products, the same companies claim they cannot be held legally responsible. Instead, they blame school districts.”
Liza Schalch, co-founder of DMV Unplugged, added: “We hope that by highlighting the safety and legal risks of these products to students and school districts, we will empower the districts to act quickly to protect students and the districts themselves.”
The 150 school districts receiving the letter are charged with educating and safeguarding over 12 million students. As an open letter, it can be forwarded to any school district in the country.
The letter is publicly available at http://openlettertoschools.com
The organizations and experts joining the letter include:
- Becca Schmill Foundation
- The Center for Responsible Technology
- Child First Policy Center
- The Digital Childhood Institute
- Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project
- DMV Unplugged
- Fairplay
- Protect Young Eyes
- Schools Beyond Screens
- Scrolling 2 Death
- Smartphone Free Childhood U.S.
- Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant
- Dr. Jared C. Horvath and LME Global
For more information, please contact: [email protected]
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About Fairplay
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at https://fairplayforkids.org.