Reject COPPA 2.0 (S.836): Say No to Online Age Verification Mandates

I'm writing to urge you to vote against COPPA 2.0 when it reaches the House floor. While protecting children online is a goal we all share, COPPA 2.0 takes a fundamentally flawed approach. The bill extends privacy protections to anyone under 17 and bans targeted advertising to minors—but to enforce this, platforms must know which users are underage. In practice, this means age-verifying every single user. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation has explained, this creates exactly the kind of mass surveillance infrastructure we should be resisting, not building. No one should have to submit ID, facial scans, or other sensitive personal information just to access lawful online content. We're essentially asking millions of people—including teens seeking health information, LGBTQ+ youth exploring their identity, and victims of domestic violence using anonymous resources—to prove their age to browse the internet. The ACLU and numerous civil liberties groups have raised similar concerns. Age verification technologies are often inaccurate and create serious security risks when they collect and store sensitive data. More importantly, they destroy the anonymity that has been essential to free expression online. When people know they're being tracked and identified, they self-censor. That harms everyone—not just the children we're trying to protect. I trust you'll recognize that good intentions don't justify bad policy. There are better ways to protect young people online without sacrificing the privacy and freedom of everyone else. Please vote no on COPPA 2.0. Thank you for your service.