US Censorship News

Google and Apple will soon be required to verify app store users ID/ages in Texas, after Governor Greg Abbott signed the rule into law on Tuesday.

The Texas App Store Accountability Act follows similar legislation that passed in Utah earlier this year, although it requires the app stores to collect even more user data. Enforcement of the Texas law is set to begin at the start of next year -- giving app stores several months to determine how they will collect this information. The bill was passed with super-majority approval by the Texas House and Senate.

An Apple spokesperson responded in a statement:

We believe there are better proposals that help keep kids safe without requiring millions of people to turn over their personal information.

Apple CEO Tim Cook called Abbott earlier this month to encourage him not to sign the bill as written.

Like Utah's law, the Texas bill requires app stores to verify all users ages and obtain parental consent before minor users download or make a purchase through an app. Theyre also required to share age categories -- child, young teenager, older teenager or adult -- with app developers so that, at least in theory, they can provider safer experiences for young users.

But Texas law adds an additional requirement: The app stores must also confirm that the parent or guardian approving a minors app downloads has the legal authority to make decisions for that child.

App store operators Google and Apple argue that the age verification bills will undermine individual privacy. That's because every user, not just children, will have to provide sensitive data -- likely an ID or a scan of their face -- to confirm their age, even if they only want to download something like a weather app, where age is irrelevant. And the custody rule will require parents to turn over even more personal documentation.

US state department officials have challenged Britain's internet censor over the impact on freedom of expression created by new online censorship laws, the Guardian understands.

A group of officials from the state department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) recently met Ofcom in London. It is understood that they raised the issue of the new online safety act and how it risked infringing free speech.

The state department body later said the meeting was part of its initiative to affirm the US commitment to defending freedom of expression, both in Europe and around the world. During the meeting, Ofcom officials claimed the new rules were only in place to deal with explicitly illegal content and material that could be harmful to children.

A state department spokesperson said: As Vice-President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.

Details of the meeting emerged after Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, denied that concerns over free speech had featured in tariff negotiations with the US.

In February, the US vice-president, JD Vance, complained of infringements on free speech in the UK. Elon Musk, one of Trump's closest allies, repeatedly claimed that some prison sentences handed down to people who incited the riots on X were a breach of free speech.

Free speech advocates say that the UK censorship law is going to bring about a culture of 'if in doubt, cut it out' as platforms seek to avoid being subject to Ofcom's enforcement powers.

The US Senate just passed a bill that will let the federal and state governments investigate and sue websites that they claim cause kids mental distress . It's a terrible idea to let politicians and bureaucrats decide what people should read and view online, but the Senate passed KOSA on a 91-3 vote.

Bill proponents have focused on some truly tragic stories of loss, and then tied these tragedies to the internet. But anxiety, eating disorders, drug abuse, gambling, tobacco and alcohol use by minors, and the host of other ills that KOSA purports to address all existed well before the internet.

The Senate vote means that the House could take up and vote on this bill at any time. The House could also choose to debate its own, similarly flawed, version of KOSA. Several members of the House have expressed concerns about the bill.

The members of Congress who vote for this bill should remember -- they do not, and will not, control who will be in charge of punishing bad internet speech. The Federal Trade Commission, majority-controlled by the President's party, will be able to decide what kind of content harms minors, then investigate or file lawsuits against websites that host that content.

Politicians in both parties have sought to control various types of internet content. One bill sponsor has said that widely used educational materials that teach about the history of racism in the U.S. causes depression in kids. Kids speaking out about mental health challenges or trying to help friends with addiction are likely to be treated the same as those promoting addictive or self-harming behaviors, and will be kicked offline. Minors engaging in activism or even discussing the news could be shut down, since the grounds for suing websites expand to conditions like anxiety.

KOSA will lead to people who make online content about sex education, and LGBTQ+ identity and health, being persecuted and shut down as well. Views on how, or if, these subjects should be broached vary widely across U.S. communities. All it will take is one member of the Federal Trade Commission seeking to score political points, or a state attorney general seeking to ensure re-election, to start going after the online speech his or her constituents don't like.

All of these speech burdens will affect adults, too. Adults simply won't find the content that was mass-deleted in the name of avoiding KOSA-inspired lawsuits; and we'll all be burdened by websites and apps that install ID checks, age gates, and invasive (and poorly functioning) software content filters.

The vast majority of speech that KOSA affects is constitutionally protected in the U.S., which is why there is a long list of reasons that KOSA is unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the lawmakers voting for this bill have hand-waved away those concerns. They've also blown off the voices of millions of young people who will have their free expression constricted by this bill, including the thousands who spoke to EFF directly about their concerns and fears around KOSA.

We can't rely solely on lawsuits and courts to protect us from the growing wave of anti-speech internet legislation, with KOSA at its forefront. We need to let the people making the laws know that the public is becoming aware of their censorship plans -- and won't stand for them.

Georgia's state governor Brian Kemp has signed into law a bill that requires age verification on adult websites, a law which likely will cause the sites to shut down in the state.

Senate Bill 351 sponsored by Sen. Jason Anavitarte, aims at protecting children from cyberbullying and exposure to pornographic content, as well as regulates the usage of social media.

The law requires parental consent before allowing minors to create social media accounts. It also echoes a Texas law that would mandate age verification on pornography sites by requiring users to upload a government-issued photo ID before allowing them to view adult content. Any sites that do not enforce these rules would receive a $10,000 fine for each child who accesses content deemed harmful to minors.