Meet Amina Nawaz Fazlullah, Head of Tech Policy Advocacy

From an early age, Amina has been telling real-world stories and making a real difference for families.

October 23, 2024

Topics: Digital Divide Federal Legislation Online Privacy and Safety

Meet the Experts image with Amina's face and title on it.

The "Meet Our Experts" series uncovers our team's superpowers and showcases the unique human talent behind our mission to improve the media landscape for kids and families. See our previous articles on Amanda Lenhart, Jill Murphy,, Betsy Bozdech, Danny Weiss, Eisha Buch and Merve Lapus.

Amina's main focus is on Common Sense's work to close the digital divide by 2025. She is a sought-after expert in the field and routinely presents her ideas to leaders and policymakers in Washington, D.C. Amina previously served as a Mozilla Tech Policy Fellow and testified as a consumer advocate in front of Congress on behalf of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

What do you bring from your experience to your work at Common Sense?

Earlier in my career in legal aid, I worked with lower-income and no-income clients. It gave me the opportunity to understand just how difficult it is for families who are under-resourced to navigate government systems. Whether it's getting support for education, securing affordable housing, access to treatment, health insurance, or other support that they are qualified for, there are so many hoops that they have to jump through. It can be really difficult and confusing, especially if there are language barriers.

So when we talk about families navigating technology, I think about people who are not going to be early adopters, are not well resourced, and may have limited access to technology. The solutions we push for to protect privacy or to improve technology have to serve our most vulnerable families.

How do you see Common Sense making an impact in closing the digital divide?

When it comes to the digital divide, people talk in big generalities like education, health care, and work. But what do they actually mean? Working at Common Sense, we're able to dig into what it looks like for a family, see their internet diet, and understand what their needs are in terms of speeds and devices. The digital-needs data that we've tracked creates a powerful advocacy tool that aids policymakers in understanding the components necessary to close the digital divide. It's exciting and rewarding to work specifically on the needs of families, because they have a really important story to tell that can help legislators build programs that actually make a difference.

In 2020, we released research that showed that even the states doing the best to connect their residents still had one in four students experiencing the digital divide, largely due to the cost of service. That's why we're working to ensure that every family in every state can afford access to high-speed internet. To get policymakers to prioritize this issue, we have been working to develop a coalition of business, health care, and education leaders. We will demonstrate that every state has constituents, innovators, and other key community leaders who are strong supporters for broadband affordability policies and programs.

But our efforts to close the divide don't end with access and affordability. Once families are connected, we want to ensure that they're able to safely explore and benefit from all the internet has to offer. That's why we're leading efforts to pass tech accountability and privacy legislation. After passing privacy legislation in California, we have been successful in pushing for tech accountability and privacy legislation to better protect children and teens in states including Maryland, New York, and Colorado. Our work in the states ensures that families can quickly benefit from protections. At the same time, we're flagging for federal policymakers what measures they should incorporate into their efforts to update social media and online privacy protections for children and teens nationwide.

What do you think is the most exciting work your team is doing this year?

Definitely our work around AI. It's an exciting moment, not just because there's new technology. There is new technology every year. What's exciting is that there is a different approach to tech policy around AI technology. Across the board, from advocates, to policymakers, to industry, there is a willingness to develop regulatory guardrails now based on our shared understanding of how we use technology. There is heightened awareness that technology already plays an integral role in our day-to-day lives and that the new technology will have an impact—both good and bad—that will need to be managed.

Too often the full features of new technologies are built for the early adopter or the tech-savvy consumer. For kids, folks who are new to technology, and lower-income communities, their experience is often that they are "used" by technology and are not the "users." They may have difficulty protecting their data, avoiding harms online, or they may lack the higher quality technology that would enable them to be creators.

We have an opportunity to think about how we want AI systems to meet the needs of our most vulnerable communities. How might this work? How can these innovations help communities that have been traditionally left behind by technology? What are the potential harms? What are some of the unintended consequences? Certainly, we're excited for new technology, but we also welcome pairing protections alongside innovation. We know from past experiences that technology isn't just a fun gadget. It can offer real value and can also cause real harm.

Our team is keeping a close eye on new developments in the policy space and listening to perspectives from industry and advocacy partners. I'm especially excited to see that there's been some proactive work happening in state legislatures, Congress, the White House, and the federal agencies.

What's one important issue you see in your policy advocacy work that you think needs more attention?

I think the biggest question right now is, "How much can we rely on industry?" Will they take a different approach than in the past and embed protections in their products? Are they willing to be open partners to help protect kids and families as they use technology? Are they willing to help end the digital divide and ensure that everyone gets access to the best of what technology has to offer? Common Sense has a long history of leading those conversations with industry.

However, if kids and families continue to be treated as an afterthought, we will need federal and state policymakers to step in with policies to help ensure that every family has access to the technology they need to thrive and can benefit from strong protections to ensure their safety online.

What's something you do in your current role that most people wouldn't know?

A big part of our advocacy role is to listen to kids, parents, and educators as they share their stories, needs, and concerns around technology, and deliver that to policymakers. When we asked parents and teachers to tell us about their experiences with the digital divide, we heard from them in droves. To showcase all that input, we created a story map that helped policymakers and their staff members understand the scope and scale of the digital divide across the country.

I'm so grateful for the enthusiasm and support of our Common Sense parents and teachers. When they trust us to share their experiences and opinions with policymakers, it truly makes an impact. Every one of our policy successes rely in no small part on our ability to represent the needs of real families and educators.

What were your favorite books to read when you were a kid, and why?

It's funny, I always liked nonfiction books more than fiction or fantasy. They gave me the opportunity to "travel" to new places and "meet" new people. A book I really liked growing up was In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It was a weird book to like as a kid, but I always liked true stories. I still prefer nonfiction to fiction these days. While my true crime days are behind me, I dig a good outdoor adventure story. I recently reread Jennifer Woodlief's A Bolt from the Blue about a rescue in the Tetons. I highly recommend it!