Compliance Attorney: Industry Struggling With Age-Verification Trend

Kids’ online safety bills at the federal and state levels are creating compliance concerns with their vague language that potentially runs afoul of the First Amendment, a compliance attorney said Friday. Mark Brennan, a tech and telecom attorney with Hogan Lovells, told a webinar that bills like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which passed the Senate and the House Commerce Committee (see 2409230044), presents a legal framework with a lot of compliance “mystery.” He noted federal courts have ruled similar state-level bills are unconstitutional. The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice are leading several tech industry challenges against state laws around the country, including measures in Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Georgia (see 2409260053, 2409260062 and 2407170046). The knowledge standard contemplated in KOSA effectively tells companies they don’t necessarily need to verify age, but they’re also subject to “significant penalties” for harms minors suffer when interacting on platforms, said Brennan. It creates an environment where companies feel like they “have no choice but to verify" the age of all users, not just minors. Tech associations have argued age-verification requirements are a First Amendment violation because of their impact on access to protected speech.