Technology

States’ Push to Protect Kids Online Could Remake the Internet

Louisiana visitors to Pornhub in recent months have met an amazing new demand. Before streaming sexually explicit videos, you had to prove you were over 18.

That’s because Louisiana legislators passed legislation Last year, publishers of online material that could be “harmful to minors” were required to verify that their users were adults.

Louisiana is at the forefront of broader national efforts to insulate young people from potentially harmful content by requiring certain online services to ban or limit the participation of minors on their platforms. standing in As a result, people in many other states will quickly find that they also need to use credentials such as a digitized driver’s license to access numerous services, including popular social media apps. There is a possibility.

The proposed restrictions, introduced in at least 20 states last year, could change more than just how children and young people experience online. It could also remake the internet for millions of adults and bring about a catastrophic cultural shift towards a more rigid, age-gated online world.

A flurry of new bills could be reassuring to parents worried their children are being exposed to sexual images or being targeted by strangers online. I can’t. But civil liberties groups say certain bills could make it harder for Americans, including minors, to access online information, a constitutional right, in violation of the principle of free speech. says there is.

Utah and Arkansas recently enacted legislation requiring social apps such as TikTok and Instagram to verify the age of users and obtain parental consent before allowing accounts to minors. While many sites already require account registrants to enter their date of birth (children often subvert the self-reporting system by entering a bogus date of birth), new state rules mean ID that could prompt many platforms to introduce stricter age verification systems involving governments.

In late April, four U.S. senators introduced a “law to protect children on social media.” invoice Social networks must verify the age of their users, prohibit children under the age of 13, and obtain parental consent for users between the ages of 13 and 17.

Laurie SchlegelA Republican state representative, a driving force behind Louisiana law, said he was inspired to act last year after hearing a podcast featuring the singer-songwriter. Billie Eilish told Howard Stern Watching online porn as a child “destroyed my brain.”

Schlegel believes the digital world needs the same kind of adult zone that exists in the physical world, where people are often required to show government ID before buying alcohol. said there is. As an example, Louisiana already requires her online gambling and alcohol delivery services to verify the age of patrons through credentials such as driver’s licenses, she noted.

“As a society, we have agreed that 15-year-olds should not go to bars or strip clubs,” Schlegel said. “The same protections should be enforced online so that a 10-year-old knows he’s not watching hardcore porn of her.”

Schlegel added that the age verification bill was created with the potential for free speech in mind. It targets sexually explicit sites that meet the long-standing legal test for “material”.

But civil liberties experts say some of the proposed restrictions on harmful content and social media sites could create age-verification barriers for Americans seeking free access to online information. said. These experts argue that if the rules are not overturned, they could fundamentally change the Internet. Whether it’s turning the online world into a patchwork of walled fiefs or limiting the services offered by popular platforms to avoid triggering rules.

It “could interfere with free speech, not just for minors,” but it could cut off access to online information for adults, he said. Nadine Strossenformer National President of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Civil liberties groups said they are considering legal action to block certain new laws.

Attempts to impose age limits on the Internet have faced constitutional problems in the past. voided a federal rule that would restrict free speech, said the rule.

At that time, age verification software was not yet widely available online. No longer.

The state of Louisiana has emerged as a national leader on this issue, thanks to the off-the-shelf technology in place: a state-approved mobile app called “LA Wallet” that allows residents to digitally scan their Louisiana driver’s licenses. This is partly due to the fact that

LA Wallet works by verifying a user’s identity with the state motor vehicle department. This allows people in Louisiana to use the app like they would a physical license to prove their age at a bar, for example.

After the Online Porn Age Verification Act went into effect in January, the number of new LA Wallet users more than tripled to about 5,200 per day. envok, the Louisiana software company behind the app. Now, when a Louisiana user visits sites such as her Pornhub, she is asked to enter a unique code to verify age via her LA wallet. The app then checks the user’s age and tells the porn site if the person is an adult.

Envoc president Calvin Fabre says the system is designed to protect your privacy. LA Wallet does not transmit users’ personal information to porn sites or retain information about sites where users have requested age verification.

Since Louisiana enacted a bill last year, at least a dozen other states have introduced similar age verification laws for viewing online pornography. Among them are Utahwhich has digital driver license programMany other states are piloting mobile licenses.

Even so, there are loopholes. For example, to circumvent age checks, people in Louisiana can use location masking software to appear to be in another state.

However, many sexually explicit sites have yet to set up age verification systems for users in Louisiana, said Solomon Friedman, a partner at Ethical Capital Partners. Private equity firm that recently acquired MindGeekthe company behind adult sites like Pornhub.

“Pornhub is fully compliant with the law,” says Friedman.

To strengthen compliance, Schlegel recently introduced a bill that would allow states to impose specific fines on porn sites that fail to verify the age of their users.

Some social media platforms say they are stepping up efforts to identify and remove underage users.

Meta said it started Use of artificial intelligence A tool that helps identify young people who lie about their age on Instagram and Facebook dating. TikTok, which uses various methods to identify underage users, said it was deleted Last year, there were over 75 million accounts that appeared to belong to children under the age of 13.

Still, Louisiana’s Schlegel is seeking broader protection.

Her state’s civil code does not allow companies to enter into contracts with minors without parental consent, she noted. submitted a bill To clarify that the Online Service is subject to contractual rules. The Louisiana House of Representatives unanimously passed his bill in late April, and it is now on its way to the Senate. Such action could require sites like Reddit and Roblox to obtain parental permission for all users under the age of 18 in Louisiana.

Schlegel said her law is intended to send a message to powerful online platforms.

kashmir hill contributed to the report.

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