Vote No on S. 5226 – Oppose Mandatory Digital ID for Social Media

I'm writing to ask you to vote against S. 5226, Senator Ruben Gallego's "Parental Approval for Youth Social Media Act of 2026." I support protecting kids online, but this bill goes too far—and it could hurt everyone's privacy. The problem is straightforward: the bill requires platforms to know whether a user is a child, and there's really only one way to guarantee that. They'd have to check everyone's ID. That's how platforms satisfy "take reasonable steps" when they're liable if they "should have known" someone was under 16. We end up with mandatory digital ID checkpoints for all social media users, not just minors. Millions of adults would be swept into data collection systems they never asked for. Then there's the FTC piece. The bill hands the agency power to define acceptable age verification methods and parental consent procedures. The language is vague—"reasonable" steps, "may use" certain methods—while giving the FTC broad discretion to fill in the blanks. This leaves platforms guessing and citizens subject to rules that haven't even been written yet. I'm uncomfortable with that kind of delegated authority. And honestly, the bill's justification is thin. It rests on three assertions—that social media links to mental health harms, that features "may exacerbate" them, that children need protections—without citing any supporting evidence. I think Congress should demand more than that before passing legislation that affects billions of internet users. I'd much rather see child safety measures that don't require universal age verification or give unelected bureaucrats unchecked rulemaking power. Please vote no on S. 5226. Thanks for your time.