Legislators in several states added to a growing pile of age-verification bills Friday. Kids privacy and online safety bills have been an early focus for these lawmakers (see 2501170053).
Virtual private networks, or VPNs, aren't the effective loopholes to age-verification laws that many think they are, Electronic Frontier Foundation staff said in a blog post Friday. Currently, 19 states have laws that require age verification before a user can access sites containing adult content, said bloggers Paige Collings, EFF senior speech and privacy activist, and Rindala Alajaji, EFF legislative activist.
The early weeks of January have brought a blizzard of state bills focused on protecting kids online, including requiring age verification on porn and social media websites. Some industry groups have long raised privacy concerns with such mandates, arguing they could require that users submit sensitive information confirming their age or parental status to consent to a child’s access.
National security surveillance, First Amendment issues and age-gating will be key privacy and technology policy areas to watch under the incoming administration, said Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) staff during a webinar Thursday.
U.K. regulator Ofcom Thursday issued industry guidance detailing how apps and sites can implement effective age checks to keep children from encountering online porn and protect them from other harmful content. Pornography providers have until July to introduce age checks, it said. The office also published a statement on age assurance and children's access, and warned that its age assurance enforcement program is open for business.
A kids social media bill requiring age verification cleared the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee with an amendment in a 10-1 vote at a livestreamed hearing Wednesday. The bill would prohibit kids 15 years old and younger from accessing social media unless they have parental permission.
Websites could soon be sued in Oregon for not keeping kids younger than 18 off pornographic websites, with a penalty up to $5,000 per violation. The Oregon House Monday had its first reading of a bill (HB-2032) mandating age verification.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) expects bipartisan support for various forthcoming kids’ tech safety bills, including one requiring age verification for social media and implementing an age-appropriate design code. The governor and Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) announced support for those and two other kids’ safety bills at a livestreamed news conference Monday.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case about a Texas age-verification law aimed at preventing minors from accessing adult websites. However, in addition to First Amendment implications, the case could become much broader, centering on technology that verifies the ages of website visitors younger and older than 18 and whether that process infringes on their rights.
Indiana state Sen. Mike Bohacek (R) is cutting “about two-thirds” of a social media bill requiring age verification to address concerns with the measure (SB-11), he said at a Senate Judiciary hearing Wednesday evening.