OPINION:
The year 2024 has become a turning point for online expression. In just seven months, governments worldwide have launched a coordinated assault on digital free speech, signaling a global trend toward regulating online discourse.
The efforts of totalitarian governments to control speech are well documented and evident to us all, but similar efforts are now also underway in the free world and in countries that claim to be havens of open dialogue. Recently, Canadian lawmakers have begun exploring paths to stripping protections from religious speech while Australia has brazenly attempted to create and export a censorship regime.
Not to be outdone, the United States is attempting to join the global censorship movement with the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Pitched as a harmless bill to protect America’s teens in the digital world, KOSA is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, more likely to muzzle speech and infringe upon constitutional freedom of speech right than to provide the critical protections needed to keep America’s teens safe online.
While Canada and Australia have free speech enshrined or implied in their constitutions, neither document is as robust in protecting speech as the First Amendment. U.S. courts, including the Supreme Court, have routinely upheld the First Amendment and prevented lawmakers in Congress and statehouses across the country from enacting legislation that abridges freedom of speech or expression. Lawmakers and their communications staff are creative and often package censorship bills, such as the Kids Online Safety bills, as legislation that addresses parents’ concern about the impact of social media on their teens.
KOSA plays into these legitimate concerns. Unfortunately, while it masquerades as a teen online safety bill, KOSA would strip away the First Amendment protections that Americans hold dear. The most egregious violation would stem from a requirement strong-arming social media platforms into age-verifying and creating an “ID for the internet.” Under this new regime, everyone would be required to prove their identity regardless of age, and the constitutional right to anonymity, which has been affirmed as part of the First Amendment, would disappear. Equally concerning is the reality that millions of Americans would be forced to give up their personal information to tech companies and, worse, the government.
States that have tried to enact social media age verification requirements akin to KOSA have run into constitutional roadblocks, highlighting the legal uncertainty that lies ahead. Utah’s sweeping Social Media Regulation Act was supposed to go into effect in March of this year but was delayed by litigation and ultimately repealed and replaced by lawmakers in Salt Lake City. Lawmakers in Arkansas passed a similar bill requiring social media platforms to age-verify users, only for courts to injunct the bill, stating that age verification “imposes significant burdens on adult access to constitutionally protected speech and discourage[s] users from accessing the regulated sites.” As such, it has the effect of chilling speech and thus violating the First Amendment.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Parents Matter: Protecting Our Children in a Digital Age
Unlike lawmakers across the world and in D.C. who are pushing a censorship regime, lawmakers in Tallahassee have made freedom an organizing principle rather than a simple slogan. Instead of requiring mass government surveillance of all social media activity, Florida now requires all public school students to learn healthy social media habits. The benefits of such a law are simple: rather than suppressing speech and destroying online anonymity, Florida will send students into the digital world equipped with the skills to navigate social media platforms safely.
Simply put, Florida has shown that there is a false choice between protecting children and protecting the First Amendment.
With Congress bitterly divided and a presidential election fast approaching, it’s unlikely that KOSA will reach the White House anytime soon, but that does not mean that lawmakers in Washington will stop their assault on freedom of speech or their attempts to dilute the power of the First Amendment. Under the guise of protecting, KOSA will undoubtedly rear its ugly head in the future.
Americans must remain vigilant. Otherwise, the rights we hold dear could become a distant memory.
• Dr. Edward Longe is the director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at The James Madison Institute.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.