As online age checks expand, concern over a free internet follows

Online age checks are on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere, asking people for IDs or face scans to prove they are over 18 or 21 or even 13.

- By BARBARA ORTUTAY

To proponents, they’re a tool to keep children away from material that might be harmful to them.

But opponents see a worrisome trend toward a less secure, less private and less free internet, where people can be denied access not just to pornography but news, health information and the ability to speak openly and anonymously.

“I think that many of these laws come from a place of good intentions,” said Jennifer Huddleston, a senior technology policy fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “Certainly we all want to protect young people from harmful content before they're ready to see it.”

More than 20 states have passed some kind of age verification law, though many face legal challenges. While no such law exists on the federal level in the United States, the Supreme Court recently allowed a Mississippi age check law for social media to stand. In June, the court upheld a Texas law aimed at preventing minors from watching pornography online, ruling that adults don’t have a 1st Amendment right to access obscene speech without first proving their age.

Elsewhere, the United Kingdom requires users visiting websites that allow pornography to verify their age.

Beyond adult sites, platforms such as Reddit, X, Telegram and Bluesky have also committed to age checks. France and several other European Union countries also are testing a government-sponsored verification app.

Australia has banned children under 16 from accessing social media.

“Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in November. The platforms have a year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.