The Law & Economics of Online Age Verification and Parental Consent: Device-Filtering Edition
As patient observers continue to await the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, which many hope will clarify the constitutionality of online age-verification regulations, the debate over how to best protect children online, given the strictures of the First Amendment, continues to evolve. While several states have attempted to impose age-verification ... The Law & Economics of Online Age Verification and Parental Consent: Device-Filtering Edition
Can You Actually Keep Kids Off Social Media Without Age Verification?
Children’s online safety is back on the agenda with the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s recent markup of the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA). That bill would make social-media platforms liable for allowing kids under age 13 to create or maintain a profile. But it’s worth considering whether KOSMA could possibly be effective if kids ... Can You Actually Keep Kids Off Social Media Without Age Verification?
Restoring the Marketplace of Ideas: Examining the Executive Order on Ending Federal Censorship
President Donald Trump has issued a slew of executive orders (EOs) in his first week back in office. But one that caught my attention was the EO titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” The EO places limits on what federal officials in the executive branch can do in relation to speech, including ... Restoring the Marketplace of Ideas: Examining the Executive Order on Ending Federal Censorship
Trump Administration Has Opportunity to Chart a Better Course on AI
The lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) filed last August against the real-estate software provider RealPage, as well as a report issued last month by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) claiming to find $3.8 billion in consumer harms in the rental-housing market arising from the use of algorithmic-pricing tools, both stand ... Trump Administration Has Opportunity to Chart a Better Course on AI
Will the Supreme Court Change Its Mind About Age Verification?
With Wednesday’s oral argument in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is now set to possibly reconsider its jurisprudence on online age verification. Reading the tea leaves is hard, but the oral arguments do seem to suggest that there is broad agreement that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals got the ... Will the Supreme Court Change Its Mind About Age Verification?
Meta’s Announcement: The Return of Online Free Speech?
In a video posted to Instagram earlier this week, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced “major changes” to Facebook and Instagram’s content-moderation policies and operations. Zuckerberg highlighted the importance of allowing private market actors to decide the best way to balance the speech interests of their users. As we move into a new administration, one ... Meta’s Announcement: The Return of Online Free Speech?
Kids and Online Safety: An International End-of-Year Review
As the year comes to a close, it is worth reviewing how governments around the world—including at both the state and federal level in the United States—have approached online regulation to protect minors. I will review several of the major legislative and regulatory initiatives, with brief commentary on the tradeoffs involved in each approach. Age ... Kids and Online Safety: An International End-of-Year Review
The Law & Economics of the First Amendment: Curation, Targeted Advertising, and Access to Online Speech
We at the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) filed an amicus brief earlier this month to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in the NetChoice v. Bonta case. It was an updated version of the brief we filed earlier this year before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. ... The Law & Economics of the First Amendment: Curation, Targeted Advertising, and Access to Online Speech
The Law & Economics of Online Age Verification and Parental Consent: App Store Edition
Roughly this time last year, I was writing an International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) issue brief that considered online age-verification and parental-consent laws from a law & economics perspective. The resulting paper, “A Coasean Analysis of Online Age-Verification and Parental-Consent Regimes,” found that the major U.S. Supreme Court cases on age verification and ... The Law & Economics of Online Age Verification and Parental Consent: App Store Edition
Between a TikTok and a Hard Place: Products Liability, Section 230, and the First Amendment
With the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Anderson v. TikTok, it’s time to revisit the interplay between the First Amendment’s right to editorial discretion, Section 230 immunity, and children’s online safety in the context of algorithms. As has been noted many times, the use of algorithmic recommendations is ubiquitous online. And ... Between a TikTok and a Hard Place: Products Liability, Section 230, and the First Amendment
Why Technological Neutrality Is Key to BEAD’s Success
Congress intended the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s (IIJA) ambitious $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to bridge America’s digital divide by subsidizing infrastructure buildout to areas that are either unserved or underserved by broadband internet. With projects administered by the 50 states, five insular territories, and the District of Columbia, the ... Why Technological Neutrality Is Key to BEAD’s Success
Does NetChoice v Bonta Mean Curtains for KOSA?
To butcher a Winston Churchill quote, it’s not yet clear if this is the beginning of the end, or just the end of the beginning, for children’s online-safety bills. Such legislation has been all the rage in recent years, earning bipartisan support at both the federal and state level. A version of the Kids Online ... Does NetChoice v Bonta Mean Curtains for KOSA?
