After the Supreme Court’s decision in June to uphold a Texas age verification law in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the fate of the internet—who can use it and how difficult it is to access—seems precarious. Age verification is an increasingly popular but short-sighted solution to the growing fears over the impact that the internet and social media has on children in particular.

Age verification measures have cropped up in state legislatures around the country, always with accompanying legal challenges and varying levels of success. Federal proposals for regulation take a similar approach, with bills like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) barreling onward, despite previous iterations proving unsuccessful. These measures vary in scope and target but involve users turning over sensitive data in order to access their desired content. The exchange of information for usage rights raises concerns about data privacy, withholding access to free speech, and the accuracy of such a system.

As they so often do, European regulators have blessed American policymakers with a preview of the perils that follow excessive bureaucracy. The United Kingdom (UK) began enforcing the Online Safety Act (OSA) last month. The Act places the impetus upon social media companies and browsers to prevent minors from accessing “harmful” content. As is often the case in such a policy, harmful is a broad term and social media companies and other platforms are left scrambling to cover all of their bases.

Internet users in the UK were quick to report that their posts and desired content, often containing political or harmless matters, had become inaccessible. For instance, New York Magazine reported that Reddit had begun blocking users from subreddits with news and footage about conflicts in the Middle East. The same article went on to detail how UK minors are finding inventive ways to fool media sites and pass the age verification process, a common phenomenon in areas where age restrictions are implemented and one that highlights the inefficacy of such an approach.

American lawmakers have denounced the UK’s tactics and the subsequent censorship that has occurred. Shoshana Weissmann, resident fellow of technology and innovation at the R Street Institute, points out the irony behind congressmen like Representatives Jim Jordan, Kevin Kiley, and Scott Fitzgerald condoning the OSA: “Ironically, all of this is happening against the backdrop of American lawmakers advocating for laws that would have similar outcomes. For instance, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) lists a variety of harms to minors for which platforms would be liable. Its duty of care, like the OSA’s, is vague and loose.”

The Online Safety Act should serve as a glaring warning against government overreach in the name of protecting children. Threatening privacy, free speech, and the free market through strenuous compliance measures and vague definitions is a recipe for stopping the innovative tools and solutions that companies and consumers continue to invent.

Links to Learn More

Age Verification Is Coming for the Whole Internet | NY Magazine

U.K.’s Online Safety Act Censors the Internet—A Preview of U.S. Proposals | R Street Institute

No, the UK’s Online Safety Act Doesn’t Make Children Safer Online | Electronic Frontier Foundation