Stop online ID checks in Massachusetts!

Massachusetts lawmakers, led by Governor Maura Healey, are barreling toward passing some of the most invasive and unworkable online ID check mandates in the country.

House Bill 5366 and Healey’s “complementary” proposal would mandate everyone in the state verify their age to post online, forcing all of us to hand over our government IDs or biometric info to untrustworthy Big Tech companies and third party “ID check” vendors. These mandates won’t keep kids safe. They let Big Tech off the hook while putting all of us at risk. There’s still time to stop this. CALL NOW to stop online ID checks in Massachusetts.

Call Governor Healey & key MA lawmakers! Calling you now...

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Introduce yourself, be polite, and say:

“Hi, I’m calling to urge my lawmakers to oppose any bill that would mandate age verification, ban young people from social media, and kill online anonymity. This kind of legislation would make vulnerable kids less safe, while forcing everyone to upload their government ID or submit to a facial recognition scan in order to post online. Now is not the time to expose our personal information to Trump admin surveillance and shut down our ability to safely advocate and organize online. Instead, please support comprehensive privacy legislation like the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act, that actually protects kids and addresses Big Tech’s harmful business practices. Thank you.”

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Big Tech companies are harmful. But ID check mandates let them off the hook while making everyone, including kids, less safe.

The proposed legislation would:

  • Force everyone (not just kids) to upload a government ID or submit to a facial recognition scan to create a social media account or post online, even on educational sites like Wikipedia
  • Force parents to send even more sensitive information to Big Tech companies to “verify” custody in order for a minor to create an account (think: sending a birth certificate to Mark Zuckerberg to let your teen create an account)
  • Allow unsupportive parents to lock queer and trans youth off the Internet, restricting access to life-saving community and information with zero recourse
  • Expand the Trump admin’s surveillance capabilities, making it easier for them to persecute people organizing protests, monitoring ICE, and criticizing the administration
  • Cost Massachusetts tax payers enormously, as the legislation is clearly unconstitutional and would face legal challenges.
  • Specifically harm undocumented folks who use social media to warn communities about ICE activity and raise money for family members
  • Fine smaller and non-profit tech platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky out of business, further expanding the monopolies of Big Tech platforms

Dozens of civil liberties, racial justice, LGBTQ+, press freedom, abortion access, and human rights organizations have spoken out against these dangerous and misguided “age verification” laws, several of which have already been struck down as unconstitutional in other states. 

Plus, a Massachusetts-based coalition of LGBTQ groups including III Labs, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, ACLU of MA, The Queer Neighborhood Council, and the Transgender Emergency Fund have specifically been pressuring local lawmakers on this issue. Late last year, the Boston City Council introduced a resolution condemning “age verification” and censorship legislation, citing harm to the city’s LGBTQ youth.

Healey and MA lawmakers are ignoring these calls to action and endorsing surveillance, censorship, and bigotry at a time when Mass residents need our rights protected more than ever.

Here’s how we actually protect kids:

Instead of banning kids and mandating creepy ID checks for everyone, MA lawmakers could pass comprehensive data privacy legislation, like the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act (MCDPA). This bill has already passed the MA Senate and actually confronts the shady business practices of data brokers and Big Tech, protecting us all from having our personal information and location data sold to bad actors and fascist federal agencies.

Antitrust measures and algorithmic justice legislation would further tackle Big Tech’s greedy surveillance capitalist business model, making the Internet safer for kids (and everyone else) without curtailing our rights to free expression.

Read more about why this is a terrible idea: