Executive Summary Smartphones and social media are now central to adolescent life, prompting understandable concern about teens’ mental health, sleep, school performance, and compulsive use. . . .

The EU Commission draft law to restrict young people’s access to the internet that it presented last week will come at a high cost: it will make internet access contingent on age, expand the use of

Freedom, Not Fear: First Amendment Concerns in Age Verification Regimes Today is Constitution Day, 239 years since a group of 39 men in Philadelphia attached their signatures to a document that would ...

Cybercriminals claim to have stolen digital copies of 160 million licenses and ID cards from an ID verification company, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s.

What Meta's 2026 child-harm settlement actually changes for kids, and what it leaves on.

The answer to keeping children safe online lies with parents and communities supporting young people through a vulnerable period — not with policymakers turning the entire internet into an ID checkpoi...

The historic settlement reignites ongoing concern around how age-verification technology puts privacy at risk.

The tentative agreement is a massive concession from the tech giant.

Protecting kids online shouldn’t mean sacrificing privacy and security. In the first installment of our #SafetySeries, @terencesamuel makes the case for shared responsibility and solutions that keep ...

Fifth Circuit shouldn’t let government infringe on online speech.

The rapidly expanding push for mandatory online age verification is really about the future of digital identity. Billions Network’s Evin McMullen argues that the architecture chosen for age verific…

Australia social media ban results: first formal evaluation by the eSafety Commissioner finds 81 percent of children under 16 still using restricted platforms three months after the world-first law to...

On July 12th,, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen issued a statement calling for a European Union (EU) wide identity verification system for all social media users. Like many infringem

As of March 2026, every U.S. state had introduced at least one bill seeking to regulate social media or other digital platforms for people younger than 18. The wave of legislation would be difficult f...

#NEW: As a new school year begins, the @FTC recently launched Youville, a free resource helping kids ages 8–12 build digital literacy skills through engaging activities on privacy, online safety and d...

YouTube video by Connect x Protect

Three US states have passed laws requiring operating systems to verify your age before you can use your computer, and Congress is considering similar legislation. Here's everything we know so far.

Earlier this year, juries in California and New Mexico returned significant verdicts against Meta for harms inflicted on children through its platforms. Within hours, some supporters of the App Store

The VPN provider has always maintained that these laws mark the end of online privacy

Executive Summary As kids’ online safety remains a priority for policymakers and parents alike, lawmakers have introduced a number of legislative proposals that would change standards for how much dig...

Our new one-pager recaps major youth safety developments from the 2026 state sessions. Importantly, it also outlines the key questions these proposals raise for families, including privacy, security, ...

The Internet Society led an amicus brief filing on a case challenging Texas age verification requirements for app stores.

Lionel Eddy examines whether the EU’s new age verification app can protect children online without compromising privacy, security and digital trust.

the Parents Over Platforms Act (POPA) and the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA), both seek to address online child safety, but they take very different approaches

"Why do you need age verification on a site where everyone is 38?"

YouTube video by FutureofPrivacy

NCAC filed an amicus brief arguing that Texas's SB 2420, which requires age verification for all app store users, should remain blocked.

House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders have reached a bipartisan agreement on legislation intended to strengthen online protections for children.

Texas has joined the growing list of states trying to solve a real problem with a dangerous tool. Senate Bill 2420, the Texas App Store Accountability Act, is intended to protect children from inappro...

Throughout my time representing Utah’s 2nd District in Congress, I consistently sounded the alarm on the devastating effects that social media has had on our nation’s youth. The data speaks for itself...

The government is expected to table the Digital Safety Act on Wednesday with reports that it will include a ban on social media for those under 16, framed as a “temporary” measure that platforms can e...