To address the harmful effects of pornography and social media on children, states are passing laws meant to keep kids off certain sites and to block them from adult content.
But the efforts face major hurdles — and real questions about whether the proposed solutions would even work.
Some of the measures would require parental permission for minors to access certain websites. Others call for tech companies to install obscenity filters on devices sold to minors. Lawmakers have passed legislation in both blue and red states, from California to Texas.
Two of the most stringent laws already face legal challenges over free speech and privacy considerations.
Critics also say the laws go too far in undermining parental rights – ceding control to the state. And there are the practical concerns that kids, being generally more technologically savvy than their parents, will find ways to circumvent even the most tightly drawn laws.
“It’s something more like, ‘I’m doing something about tech [problems]’ than a real crackdown,” said Max Rieper, legislative analyst for MultiState, a government relations firm focusing on states. “Kids know how to get around these laws,” he added, mentioning virtual private networks (VPNs) as just one way.
Rieper suggested a federal law would be somewhat more effective than a patchwork of state laws or regulations. But a bill in...
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