We all want young people to be safe, but age verification is decidedly not the silver bullet solution to young people's online safety that regulators and corporations want you to think it is. 

First, age verification mandates diminish the safety that comes with online privacy.

For decades, we've rightfully taught young people this simple rule: don’t share personal information with strangers. But age verification laws fly in the face of that longstanding internet safety norm by requiring users to hand over their real names, real faces, real proof of their real life identities—and in some cases, their parents’ identities too—just to use basic online services. These mandates will make it harder to distinguish between legitimate services and scams, creating new opportunities for fraud and identity theft. If adults struggle to tell the difference, how can we expect our children—whose data is even more valuable to data thieves—to fare any better? 

Second, age verification mandates threaten the safety that comes with empowering young people’s autonomy and allowing them broad access to important information.

Young people across the world have the right to freedom of expression. In the United States, that means their right to access information and to communicate with others is protected by the First Amendment. Cutting off young people’s access to the internet will not only erase their important voices and perspectives, but could also impact their development, ability to form offline relationships, and autonomy. After all, social media sites are not just for entertainment; they provide space for young people to explore their identities—whether by creating and sharing art, practicing religion, or engaging in politics. Blocking our youth from these diverse spaces robs them of opportunities to develop as individuals and participate in public life, and to find safety in supportive online communities that they can’t always access in the physical world. 

Third, it is impossible to define what’s “appropriate” for everyone under 18.

Each young person is different, shaped by their family, cultural background, and maturity level. It makes little sense to treat all people under 18 the same—and what’s “appropriate” for a 6-year-old is not the same for a 17-year-old. Yet age verification mandates commonly treat all young people the same, erasing that critical nuance.

In the end, it’s families—not lawmakers or tech companies—who are best positioned to meaningfully guide their young people’s online lives. 

Open, honest conversations with young people about privacy, safety, and digital literacy are far more effective safety measures than blanket age-gating restrictions that hand those important decisions over to the government. And for those parents who do want some digital assistance guiding their children’s internet use, there are already plenty of existing parental controls they can use to customize nearly every level of the user experience—without forcing the entire internet to show ID at the door.