S.T.O.P. Concerned Over NY Social Media Legislation, Warns ‘Age Verification Doesn’t Work’

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For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Concerned Over NY Social Media Legislation, Warns ‘Age Verification Doesn’t Work’ (New York, NY 10/11/2023) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, raised concerns over social media legislation introduced by New York Attorney General Leticia James and other elected officials. While the civil rights groups noted the proposal was less alarming than prior proposals, it still incorporated the use of age verification technology. The group noted that past efforts to verify users’ ages and identities had proven disastrous, collecting invasive data and chilling internet access, while still being easily circumvented by children and teens. SEE: NY Attorney General Leticia James Press Conference https://ag.ny.gov/news-media/livestream “There is simply no magical way to check a user’s age online,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn.  “Online message boards are full of advice posts on how teens can circumvent the tools already on the market. And companies are increasingly incentivized to use more and more draconian means to track our identities. I’m glad that this legislation respects the need for anonymous internet access, but I still worry that it will further the legitimize age verification tech that just doesn’t work.” MIT Technology Review - Child online safety laws will actually hurt kids, critics say https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/10/02/1080588/child-online-safety-laws-will-actually-hurt-kids-critics-say/ The new bills come less than two weeks after S.T.O.P. released The Kids Won’t Be Alright: The Looming Threat of Child Surveillance Laws, a research report detailing how new online age and identity verification laws threaten internet access for adults and put many teens in harm’s way. Numerous federal and state proposals, including the New York Child Data Privacy and Protection Act, would require biometric scans, government ID, and other invasive measures to access the internet. The report shows these laws are especially harmful to LGBTQIA+ youth, undocumented immigrants, abortion seekers, survivors of domestic violence, and disabled communities. SEE: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Report Shows Online ID Verification Laws Threaten Kids, Internet Security https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/9/28/stop-report-shows-online-id-verification-laws-threaten-kids-internet-security S.T.O.P. Report - The Kids Won’t Be Alright: The Looming Threat of Child Surveillance Laws https://www.stopspying.org/child-surveillance The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.