Don’t Force Age Checks Online - Vote NO on KIDS Act

I urge you to vote NO on the KIDS act. Despite assurances that this bill will not require age verification implementation, the way it is written repeatedly imposes obligations that depend on knowing whether a user is under 17. The bill aims to restrict many topics under the guise of keeping children safe. However, this also will hamper the ability to discuss real topics such as drug abuse and gambling—to include mobile gacha games and loot boxes—which prevents people from getting help. It is a security nightmare. Since the bill requires platforms to establish, implement, maintain, and enforce that these topics are not discussed by children, platforms may need to weaken their security so messages can be scanned. Between this and any sort of age verification involving government ID, millions of people risk having their sensitive information stolen in a data breach. Age checkpoints are not and should never be the solution for keeping kids safe online. Instead, we should be encouraging privacy and safety online. Reject this bill.