Age verification is a prickly unknown for at least one US state

A new U.S. state age-verification law will take effect in March 1 and the government still does not have rules for it. Free speech advocates say it also lacks a single Constitutional leg.

The law, passed in Utah last year, will require all state residents to verify their age before accessing social media. Legislators want to prevent anyone younger than 18 years old from entering the major chat communities.

First Amendment advocacy group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, responded January 12 by suing Utah’s Commerce Department and attorney general.

FIRE claims that making everyone prove their age, such as with a driver’s license or age estimation with face biometrics, will deter anyone who wants to remain anonymous online. Unless they get parental consent, children would be prevented from directly communicating on social media with anyone they have not friended. They also would have to abide by a regulatory curfew online.

Three of the four plaintiffs say they use social media to educate them about abusive religious sects. The fourth is a high school student who feels that the ban would remove a venue for discussing important personal topics.

Of course this isn’t just a U.S. headache.

The Spanish Society of Health Informatics graded an age verification effort by the Spanish Data Protection Agency as being best in its market. The organization developed age verification to keep children from seeing adult content.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  children  |  legislation  |  United States  |  Utah