08/17/26

Children deserve the right to grow up.

A childhood mistake shouldn't become permanent entertainment for millions of strangers.

Growing up has always meant making mistakes. Children say foolish things, have awkward moments, lose their tempers, embarrass themselves, and learn from experiences they would rather forget.

For most of human history, they were allowed to forget them.

Social media has changed that.

Today, a child can have one vulnerable or embarrassing moment recorded by another person and uploaded to the internet within minutes. Before that child has even processed what happened, millions of strangers can be watching, laughing, commenting, creating memes, and ensuring the moment never truly disappears.

That is not a normal consequence of growing up.

Bellwether Action believes in freedom for adults and strong protections for children. Adults should have wide latitude to speak, create, debate, and make their own choices online. Children deserve something different: greater privacy, greater protection, and room to grow up without their most vulnerable moments becoming permanent public entertainment.

Social media companies should bear greater responsibility for protecting minors in these circumstances.

These companies have built extraordinarily sophisticated systems capable of identifying content, recommending it to particular audiences, and distributing it to millions of people almost instantly. When an identifiable child becomes the unwilling subject of viral content recorded in ordinary, real-world circumstances, platforms should be required to take reasonable steps to prevent that content from being algorithmically amplified for entertainment.

Any such policy should be narrowly focused.

This is not about government control, and it is not about taking away your rights. But no adult has some sacred right to turn a child’s vulnerable moments into entertainment. If your idea of freedom requires access to a child’s vulnerable moments for laughs, something is seriously wrong.

There is also an important distinction between exploitation and participation.

Children should still be free to participate, perform, create, and be seen. A child appearing in a movie, play, television production, sporting event, or other organized activity with appropriate oversight from a parent or guardian is fundamentally different from a middle school student pulling out a phone, recording another student during an embarrassing moment, and uploading it for millions of strangers to laugh at.

The difference is choice, context, and protection.

And when this happens in a public school, government cannot simply pretend it has no role in the problem.

Children spend much of their day in public schools under the supervision of government-run institutions. If families are expected to entrust their children to those institutions, protecting their basic dignity and privacy should be a priority.

When a child can be recorded in a vulnerable or humiliating moment at school and turned into viral entertainment for millions, we believe government bears some responsibility for failing to adequately protect a child placed in its care.

It is no wonder people lose trust in government programs when government institutions cannot prioritize something as fundamental as protecting children.

This does not mean every embarrassing video can be prevented. It does mean schools, government, and technology companies should recognize that the consequences have changed dramatically and their responsibilities should change with them.

A generation ago, an embarrassing moment at school might have followed a child around for a few days. Today, that same moment can be recorded, copied, reposted, searched, and potentially follow that person for the rest of their life.

Children are still figuring out who they are. They will make mistakes. They will have awkward moments. They will occasionally say and do things they'll regret.

They should be allowed to move past them.

Freedom for adults and protection for children are not contradictory principles. A free society should defend both.

We as adults should also hold ourselves to a higher standard. We should think twice before watching, sharing, or laughing at something when doing so may come at a child’s expense. Government cannot—and should not—solve every problem in our lives. But protecting children from corporations that profit from turning their vulnerable moments into viral entertainment strikes us as one of the rare places where government has a legitimate role to play.

Children deserve privacy. They deserve some grace. And above all, they deserve the right to grow up.

- Logan Conyers

08/16/26

Winning elections matters. So does changing the conversation.

Bellwether Action is supporting James Fishback for Governor of Florida. We hope he wins. But regardless of what happens on Election Day, his candidacy has already accomplished something worth recognizing: he has brought important questions into the political conversation that too often go unasked.

From the cost of living and homeownership to the consequences of unchecked development, the growth of massive data centers, and the influence of outside interests, Fishback has been willing to raise issues that deserve serious public debate.

We don't have to agree with every idea to recognize the value of putting new ones on the table. Fishback has raised questions that deserve a place in our politics, and we're glad someone is asking them. Healthy politics requires people willing to question conventional wisdom, challenge existing priorities, and give voters something meaningful to consider.

A candidate can contribute something valuable to public life even before winning an election. Sometimes simply forcing an overlooked issue into the open can change what other candidates, elected officials, and voters are willing to discuss.

James Fishback has done that in this race.

Bellwether Action is proud to support James Fishback for Governor of Florida—and grateful for the conversation his candidacy has helped start.

08/15/26

Politics has no shortage of people willing to tell others how to live. We're interested in leaders willing to tell government where to stop.

That's one reason Bellwether Action is supporting Kim Petterson for the South Dakota House in District 10.

Petterson has made limiting government overreach a recurring theme of her campaign. Her stated positions include giving parents a meaningful say in decisions affecting their children, respecting property rights, keeping unnecessary red tape off small businesses, and working to ease the property-tax burden on homeowners.

Taken together, those positions reflect a consistent theme in her campaign: government should have clear limits, and individuals and families should have room to make their own decisions.

Petterson also comes to the race from outside elected office. She's a small-business owner, mother, and longtime grassroots activist who has never held legislative office.

That makes her candidacy something of an unknown. There is no voting record to evaluate and no guarantee of how any new candidate will govern once in office.

Bellwether Action's approach includes looking beyond established political names and evaluating newcomers on their stated principles, backgrounds, and willingness to enter public life.

For Bellwether, that's part of the point. Sometimes finding better leadership means looking beyond the familiar and being willing to take a chance on someone new.

08/09/26

Today, Bellwether Action was established as an independent political organization dedicated to advancing leaders and causes that offer a better course for America.

Built on the belief that principle matters more than party, Bellwether Action will support worthy candidates and causes through independent political action focused on measurable results.

The organization runs on a deliberately lean model. Its founder contributes his time and work without taking compensation, keeping resources focused on the mission.

Today marks the beginning. Bellwether Action will put its model to work during the 2026 election cycle and beyond.