Paper: Age Verification: The Complicated Effort to Protect Youth Online
slides-agews-paper-age-verification-the-complicated-effort-to-protect-youth-online-00

Sarah Forland, Nat Meysenburg, & Erika Solis

Legislators across the United States are contemplating age verification mandates as a way to limit the potential harms of online experiences for youth and restrict access to age-inappropriate material. While more efforts are needed to ensure children can safely and securely access online spaces, age verification mandates may actually pose more risks than benefits—resulting in unintended consequences for the constitutional rights, privacy, and security of all users.

Most age verification legislation is currently aimed at online content that faces age barriers in the real world. However, some legislators have gone further to target social media platforms. Given the outsized impact of widespread age verification requirements and the potential for serious unintended consequences, this report aims to demystify and clarify these key concepts related to online age verification.