David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive running for Wisconsin governor as a Democrat, unveiled an 11-point plan Tuesday that would put new limits on social media companies and the artificial intelligence tools reshaping how kids and seniors interact online. The plan was announced at a campaign event at the Centers for Independence on West Wells Street in Milwaukee and covers everything from addictive app design to AI chatbots to the surveillance advertising that fuels much of the tech industry's revenue.
Crowley's proposal, as detailed by WPR, would push for age limits on social media accounts, restrict minors' access to addictive features, and limit AI chatbot app access for children under 13. It would also prohibit companies from using people's personal data to target them with ads and would give families a new legal avenue to sue tech companies over harms to their children. Crowley framed the effort as shifting responsibility for safety onto the companies themselves rather than onto individual users, according to Urban Milwaukee.
“Washington has not stepped up,” Crowley said, according to the same report, arguing the federal government should partner with state-level efforts to hold technology companies accountable for family safety. He said enforcement would require passing a law in Madison and making companies answer to state and local elected officials.
What's Actually in the Plan
Among the specifics: the plan would limit access to AI chatbot apps for children under 13, according to Wisconsin Watch. It would also prohibit addictive design features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay on accounts belonging to minors, per Wisconsin Watch's reporting. Crowley's proposal additionally includes new age requirements and disclosure rules specifically for AI chatbots, and would ban surveillance advertising that collects a user's personal data.
The plan calls for expanding existing penalties for sextortion and AI-generated, nonconsensual sexual content, and for directing more money into state agencies that investigate online fraud and scams. It would also penalize technology companies that profit from scams or fraudulent advertisements, and increase funding for adult protective services and scam-response resource centers, the Wisconsin Watch article notes. Any of it would require action by the Wisconsin Legislature, since Crowley's office cannot unilaterally impose these rules.
Parents and Senior Advocates Weigh In
Danielle Scampini Linn, a member of Motherhood for Good, voiced support for the plan, saying social media and AI are changing rapidly and creating new challenges for parents trying to keep their kids safe. She criticized politicians for failing to protect children online.
On the senior-safety side, Ross Winklbauer Sr., president of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, said his organization has heard from seniors that new technology, including AI, is making online scams more sophisticated and harder to spot. He described AI-enabled scammers tricking older people into believing they're communicating with a loved one.
The Scam Numbers Behind the Urgency
The concern isn't abstract. Wisconsin scam reports mentioning AI jumped 238 percent between January and July 2026 compared with the same stretch the year before, according to data cited by WisBusiness. The average financial loss reported in those AI-linked scams surged 618 percent, climbing from $778.12 in 2025 to $5,586.95 in 2026. The single largest reported AI-related scam loss in the state this year totaled $118,000, tied to an investment scam built around a supposed AI trading platform.
Older residents appear to be bearing a disproportionate share of the damage. Fraud complaints from people 60 and older spiked nearly 60 percent in the prior year, with reported losses topping $7.7 billion nationally, according to FBI data cited by WXPR. Separately, Wisconsin's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 650 online tips related to sextortion in 2025, up sharply from 230 in all of 2024, per WPR's reporting on the trend.
Where Tiffany Stands
Crowley is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, and the two candidates aren't entirely at odds on the subject, even if their broader platforms diverge. In a statement reported by WHSM, Tiffany said he supports commonsense age-verification requirements for app providers, stronger parental-consent protections, and giving parents greater control over their children's online activity. He also said he supports safeguards protecting children, seniors, personal privacy, and sensitive data from foreign adversaries, specifically naming China.
More than 60 percent of voters cited in WPR's coverage said they worry that artificial intelligence could be dangerous to humanity, a sentiment that helps explain why both campaigns are staking out positions on the issue well ahead of the data-heavy policy fights typically reserved for after an election.
How Wisconsin Would Compare
If enacted, Wisconsin's approach would put it in company with a growing list of jurisdictions experimenting with age rules for technology. Australia became the first country to bar children under 16 from creating or holding social media accounts, implementing that requirement in late 2025, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. More than half of U.S. states have already enacted their own age-verification laws, the organization notes.
For now, Crowley's plan remains a campaign proposal rather than pending legislation, and its fate would rest with lawmakers in Madison long after voters decide the governor's race.
