The new bill would require age verification on social networks

Bringing a Voice to the Internet: A State Senator’s Dilemma on a Mission to Protect Children and Their Families

The bill doesn’t require a specific age verification method, and it shouldn’t be seen as requiring government-issued identification for age verification. It would have to be tested by the Secretary of Commerce. No later than two years after the bill goes into effect, the secretary of commerce would need to make a pilot program that would let people obtain a “secure digital identification credential” by uploading copies of IDs or validating identity information shared against electronic government documentation.

The credential isn’t supposed to pass any private information to the social networks or keep records of where users have verified their identity, though the bill does allow for the pilot program to keep “aggregate data that is anonymized so that it cannot be linked to individual users.” Louisiana has a law that requires a government-issued identification to access adult websites. Individuals and social media platforms won’t be required to participate in the program.

Some states have enacted laws similar to this one. Utah’s governor signed controversial laws requiring parental consent for users under 18 to use social media in March. Arkansas’ governor signed a law requiring parental consent for underage users just a few weeks later, but it exempts most social media platforms.

As such, the bill could upend the internet as we know it by adding substantial government oversight over social media platforms. The legislation is being met with skepticism.

When Tipper Gore was trying to ban music for certain people, Senator Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, says they went through this.

“Let’s be clear, this bill is completely content neutral,” says senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. “All it says is that you cannot build a purposefully addictive program that leads especially vulnerable children down deep, deep dark rabbit holes.”

The bipartisan effort shows the pressure that Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle put on their party leaders to act to protect children after years of watching similar efforts fail.

Freshman Senator Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican, ran as “a momma on a mission” and says this is a personal issue to her and the others. “Bringing the issues that we talk about as parents in the home, with our friends, we watch unfold before us in our schools and our communities, that’s what we’re here to do, is to bring that voice, the voice of parents,” Britt says.

The opposite of their measure is that it will not stifle the next generation of tech entrepreneurs. It’s what we’re fighting for. You want our children to be healthy and prepared to succeed in the American Dream.

The Four Republicans in the Lie Group: Tom Cotton, Tom Murphy, and Brianshatz (R-Oklahoma), the Democratic Senator Tom Cotton (D-Nev.)

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is the other Republican author. The leader of the Democratic party is Connecticut’s senator Murphy with Hawaii’s Brianshatz as a lead sponsor. All four are young, in Senate terms at least, and all have young children.