1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

Please oppose any legislation that mandates age verification for internet access or social media. These laws don't just restrict teenagers — they force every adult online to submit face scans or government ID to access websites. That's a surveillance infrastructure built on the premise that everyone must prove their identity before speaking online. The global track record here is damning. Australia's under-16 social media ban is already blocking teenagers from accessing news. The EU's proposed age verification app creates long-term identifiers that enable tracking across the internet. Every one of these systems centralizes sensitive personal data that will inevitably be breached, sold, or misused. The harm isn't hypothetical — it's baked into the design. Age verification mandates trade the privacy and free expression of millions of adults for a child safety benefit that researchers and civil liberties organizations have found to be marginal at best. There are better ways to protect young people online that don't require building a national ID checkpoint at every website. Vote no on any bill that moves in this direction.