Our federal congressional representatives struggle to keep up with email. You’d think putting them in charge of regulating mobile gaming would be widely recognized as a ludicrous idea. But that’s exactly what will happen if H.R. 7757 passes into law.
Nicknamed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, the bill would require the millions of Americans who use apps and play games on their phones to provide ID to do so. The legislation, of course, sells itself as a way to protect the children. In practice, however, it would serve only to eviscerate First Amendment rights and give Big Tech more data for hackers to steal. Congress should clear this bill from its legislative cache and find a way to protect children that doesn’t treat everyone like a kid.
If Congress actually moves forward with these requirements to verify a minor’s age, it will, by default, require every adult to identify themselves to access even the most basic apps and mobile games. This is constitutionally sketchy, since it would condition access to lawful speech on identification.
CONGRESS WANTS TO REGULATE VIDEO GAMES. THE INDUSTRY BEAT THEM TO IT.
It would also create massive potential for identity theft. While the internet is many things, it is not easily segmented and partitioned. Just ask the businesses and creators who paywall content how easy it is to keep someone out of their walled garden. Even with a profit motive, businesses still struggle with piracy and people getting around digital security.
If this legislation at least accomplished the stated goal of protecting children from harmful content, then perhaps it might withstand judicial scrutiny. But even a child as low in intelligence as a Congressperson can work around an age gate. The options abound: using virtual private networks, asking an older friend to set up an account, or just asking AI for a step-by-step guide. When similar but less onerous legislation went into effect in the United Kingdom, VPN-related search traffic spiked as users learned how to circumvent the restriction.
The bill wouldn’t work, but app stores would still have to fork over millions to implement and maintain a new system that puts everyone’s data at risk, and will end up blocking adults who fear identifying themselves to the government and corporations just to access legal speech and content. Video game publishers and app developers will have to code unique user experiences. Everyone in the chain gets new data, and with them, new vulnerabilities.
The bill at least tries to protect the identification used, but if data is collected, it will be monetized. And this legislation requires either biometric, facial, or government identification. Neat.
It may seem odd, but companies affected by this legislation are lining up to get it across the finish line. Which makes sense when you realize there is no user or size cap on the requirements. Any new competitor would need to invest heavily in regulatory compliance before launching, effectively killing organic, grassroots competition when it’s expected to cost $0.17 per verification in 2029.
Nothing in American politics endures like the confederation of nanny state scolds and industry leaders. This latest wave bubbled up from radical partisans across the spectrum, including in California and Texas, who sought to prevent companies from tracking and advertising to consumers, limiting people from accessing prurient materials under the guise of doing so to protect children.
Those bills, so far, are either not in effect or are enjoined by the courts on constitutional grounds as cases work their way through the judiciary. The KIDS Act would preempt those laws and restart those legal battles.
But like all moral panics, the solution isn’t government intrusion: It’s parental involvement. According to a Marist poll last year, 65% of parents already limit which games children can play and how long they can play them. Consoles and phones already have native and downloadable parental controls. Parents can impose the same, or even stronger, limits on their children’s devices that the government seeks to require for everyone. Independent ratings services and reviews remain available as a guide.
CONGRESS WANTS TO PROTECT KIDS ONLINE. ITS SOLUTION MAKES THEM MORE VULNERABLE
All the KIDS Act would do is give parents a false sense of safety. Children will work around the system and access the broader internet, all while learning how to hide their tracks and avoid detection. Content creators and platforms will spend a fortune to check government boxes. The internet will be no safer for anyone and more annoying to use for everyone.
If Congress wants to empower parents and protect kids, it should do what it does best: nothing.
Garrett W. Fulce of Sugar Land, Texas, is a Young Voices senior contributor and host of “Seeing Red, a Texas politics podcast.”