← Back to context

Comment by gmueckl

21 hours ago

Sometimes (only sometimes, I promise) I wonder whether this kind of legislation is being dreamt up by a think tank tasked with planning how to implement some ulterior goal (e.g. massively increased surveillance to fight crime - it's far too easy to unsert something more nefarious here). The politicians then just follow the action plan and repeat talking points from party advisors.

6 comments

gmueckl

Reply
viscountchocula  21 hours ago

[flagged]

  • frumplestlatz  20 hours ago

    This is the only mention of "age verification" in all 900 pages of Project 2025:

    "In addition, some of the methods used to regulate children’s internet access pose the risk of unintended harms. For instance, age verification regulations would inevitably increase the amount of data collection involved, increasing privacy concerns. Users would have to submit to platforms proof of their age, which raises the risks of data breach or illegitimate data usage by the platforms or bad actors. Limited-government conservatives would prefer the FTC play an educational role instead. That might include best practices or educational programs to empower parents online."

    The policy recommendations for "Protecting Children Online" are found on page 875. The two main recommendations they make are:

    "The FTC should examine platforms’ advertising and contract-making with children as a deceptive or unfair trade practice, perhaps requiring written parental consent."

    "The FTC can and should institute unfair trade practices proceedings against entities that enter into contracts with children without parental consent. Personal parental responsibility is, of course, key, but the law must respect, not undermine, lawful parental authority."

    https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeade...