Oppose Age Verification and Online Anonymity Elimination Bills

Vote no on the package of age verification and "child online safety" bills currently moving through the House. These laws won't protect children. They will enable unprecedented mass surveillance and censorship while making kids less safe by forcing platforms to collect massive amounts of their personal data. There is no way to verify age without verifying identity through government documents, credit cards, or other identifying information. This permanently links our offline identities with our online behavior, creating exactly the kind of data troves that predatory companies exploit. Last week, the FTC declined to enforce COPPA to incentivize this ID verification scheme. More data collection does not equal more protection. These laws would devastate vulnerable communities who depend on anonymous online spaces. Whistleblowers could be tracked and fired. Trans people could be outed in states like Kansas that are already invalidating their IDs. Young people seeking information about abuse or reproductive health would be deterred from getting help. The government is already flooding platforms with subpoenas to unmask anti-ICE accounts. These bills would make it easier to identify and prosecute anyone who challenges the administration. The real beneficiaries are Big Tech companies consolidating power and the surveillance state gaining complete authority to monitor our speech. Reject these bills.