TikTok Should Pay, Not All New Yorkers' Privacy Rights

I'm writing to urge you to reject Attorney General James's proposal to implement sweeping age verification requirements for TikTok—and online platforms generally—in response to TikTok's documented misconduct. Let's be clear: TikTok's actions were unacceptable. Unsealed court filings reveal the company ran placebo "safety features" on 28,000+ users while withholding real protections from over 10 million others—all to maximize watch time and ad revenue. This is corporate malpractice that deserves consequences. But punishing millions of law-abiding New Yorkers for TikTok's sins is not justice—it's collateral damage. The remedy AG James is pursuing would require digital ID checks and facial age estimation for anyone seeking algorithmic feeds. This transforms a targeted enforcement action into mass surveillance infrastructure. Every adult who simply wants to scroll without proving their identity becomes a data point in a government-mandated verification system. Here's the contradiction: We're told TikTok deceived users about privacy and safety. The proposed fix? Force all users to surrender biometric data and personal identification to prove their age. That's not protecting privacy—it's institutionalizing the very surveillance practices we're supposed to be fighting. TikTok should face fines, remediation orders, and platform-specific bans where warranted. But blanket digital ID requirements set a dangerous precedent. Today it's TikTok. Tomorrow it's any platform the state decides needs "safety measures." New York can hold bad actors accountable without sacrificing civil liberties. We need targeted remedies, not digital ID mandates that affect everyone regardless of whether they ever used TikTok. Please reject this overreach. Protect privacy rights alongside child safety—they're not mutually exclusive.