We’re excited to announce the third installment of our “Tech in the Courts” virtual webinar series—presented collaboratively by TechFreedom and Washington Legal Foundation. This panel will focus on the intersection of online child protection measures and First Amendment rights, particularly emphasizing age verification policies. The event is on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Numerous federal and state-level proposals have been introduced to protect children online, but many of these well-intentioned measures raise significant First Amendment concerns when it comes to age verification. How can we reconcile the pressing need to safeguard children with our essential right to free speech? What are the real-world effects of proposed age-verification measures? How havethe courts ruled on such issues, and how will they rule in the future? Our panel of experts tackle these questions and more:
- Ari Cohn, Free Speech Counsel, TechFreedom
- Vera Eidelman, Staff Attorney, Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, ACLU
- David Greene, Senior Staff Attorney and Civil Liberties Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
- Kate Ruane, Director, Free Expression Project, Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
For more details and to register, visit www.techfreedom.org/event-series-age-verification
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Find the event registration and release on our website, and share it on Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We can be reached for comment at media@techfreedom.org. Read our related work, including:
- J.D. Vance is Part of Unconstitutional Porn Ban Push, Free the People (Aug. 14, 2024)
- Age-Gating Access To Online Porn Is Unconstitutional, Techdirt (Aug. 8, 2024)
- Amicus brief urging the Ninth Circuit to affirm a decision blocking enforcement of California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code (Feb 14, 2024)
- Closing the Digital Frontier, City Journal (Mar. 7, 2023)
- Red States vs. Every SCOTUS Internet Precedent, Tech Policy Podcast #360 (Nov. 17, 2023)
- The Moral Panic Over Internet Porn Can’t Overrule the First Amendment, The Daily Beast (Sep. 7, 2023)
- Republicans Can’t Decide If They Want Online Privacy or Not, The Daily Beast (Sep. 5, 2023)
- Letter explaining why the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) threatens First Amendment rights (July 26, 2023)
- When Schools Scapegoat Social Media, Tech Policy Podcast #347 (June 26, 2023)
- Desperate to Justify Unconstitutional Social Media Law, Utah Officials Blunder Through False Equivalencies, Substack (May 11, 2023)
- Save the Children (From State Social Media Laws), Tech Policy Podcast #342 (Apr. 11, 2023)
- Our letter expressing First Amendment concerns over two Utah social media bills (Feb. 16, 2023)
- Is Screen Time Bad for Kids?, Tech Policy Podcast #335 (Jan. 11, 2023)
About TechFreedom:TechFreedom is a nonprofit, nonpartisan technology policy think tank. We work to chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology.