House-passed KIDS Act harms access to protected speech and substitutes parents’ judgment in favor of regulators’

The House of Representatives passed the KIDS Act today, a package that includes incentives for age verification and onerous directives for product design.

Director of CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin said:

“Tonight’s House vote to pass the KIDS Act is a defeat for free speech, privacy, and parents’ rights. Making speech more difficult to access for all Americans (not just kids), creating incentives for companies to demand government identification or biometric data, and substituting regulators for parents won’t keep kids safe. Good intentions aside, this is bad policy.”

More from CEI:

• Williamson for The Dispatch: The Wrong Way to Protect Kids Online
• Weekend Interview: Jessica Melugin Discusses Concerns Over the Kids Online Safety Act