NetChoice, a trade association advocating for free expression and enterprise online, filed a lawsuit against Virginia to stop a new age verification law last month. This challenge is hardly the first of its kind; age verification measures and government-designed social media mandates historically have faced a litany of challenges to their constitutionality and workability. Despite the litigious track record of these kinds of laws, policymakers continue to search for a regulatory remedy to the risks associated with internet use.

The enacted Virginia bill, SB854, requires that citizens hand over their personal information in order to verify their age. Ironically, what the law requires to address the risk of internet use is fraught with even more risks, as demonstrated at a large scale by the recent data breach in the United Kingdom. Just months after the passage of the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, the trove of personal information gathered through age verification, including license pictures, passwords, and birthdates, was breached. In addition to the privacy risks and the increased difficulty for the average user to access content with which they are rightfully entitled to interact, these measures are not particularly effective. Data from this year shows that people find ways to work around these age verification mandates and are often driven to noncompliant websites and darker parts of the web.

Along with the age verification requirement, the Virginia legislation imposes a time limit upon how long minors can use social media platforms. As NetChoice points out, “SB 854 rations access to protected speech for minors by limiting them to one hour per day to listen, watch, or share on ‘social media platforms.’ Such rationing cannot be squared with the First Amendment interests of minors in engaging in protected speech free of government interference.” It is not the job of an elected (or even unelected) government official to decide when a minor can use the internet. Rather, this is a decision best left to parents and families who can design internet usage rules that accommodate their individual needs and concerns.

The weaknesses of the SB854 and the subsequent legal battle that ensues should serve as a deterrent to lawmakers who, in their noble pursuit to protect children, assume that the remedy will involve strenuous regulation and age verification measures.

This week, the United States House Energy and Commerce Committee is testing whether the challenges posed by social media and the internet require not just one legislative fix, but 19. A package of 19 bills was introduced and heard on December 2nd. The collection included some reintroductions from years past, including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Other familiar faces include the App Store Accountability Act and the Children’s and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. These and others on the list all gained much traction during their initial introductions, but ultimately failed to progress due to the very challenges that the Virginia bill is currently facing.

The sheer quantity of legislation in the new kids online safety package speaks to a truth that years of legal challenges, workarounds, and data breaches should have made evident; there is no quick fix for modernity. Parents are facing an unprecedented challenge in helping their children navigate the internet. This challenge should be taken seriously and no family should be given the illusion of a long-term solution through a law that ultimately risks their privacy and can’t live up to its promises.

Lawmakers should be encouraged by the free market. Technology companies and social media platforms in particular have proven particularly adept at anticipating and responding to the concerns of parents, and new tools emerge each month to curate online experiences based upon individual needs. The social media and technology landscape shifts rapidly—far more rapidly than 19 bills can anticipate. Congress should let parents and caretakers do what only they can, raise their children, and companies do what only they can, compete and innovate to create the best product.

Links to Learn More

Lawmakers to Consider 19 Bills for Childproofing the Internet-Reason Magazine

Protecting Youth on Social Media: It Starts at Home! – Pelican Institute for Public Policy

Is It the Government’s Job to Make Sure Chatbots Are Safe for Kids? | Cato Institute