Originally reported by Jon Schweppe on X
Jon Schweppe of the American Principles Project laid it out in terms so simple that even a congressman could understand: pass federal age verification for adult websites and app stores, or stop pretending you care about children. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering the SCREEN Act and the App Store Accountability Act this week, and there is absolutely zero legitimate reason to vote against either one.
Zero. None. Unless you’re on Big Tech’s payroll — in which case, there are plenty of reasons, all of them measured in dollars.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
A Cygnal poll from late February found that 81 percent of likely voters support a federal law requiring adult websites to verify users’ ages before granting access to pornographic content. Eighty-one percent. That’s not a partisan issue — that’s a consensus. Among Republicans it’s 86 percent. Among Democrats it’s 80 percent. Among Independents it’s 81 percent. Swing voters support it at a net +68. Women support both measures at 84 percent.
App store age verification — requiring Apple and Google to verify that minors can’t download apps without parental consent — polls at 83 percent support. These are numbers that politicians dream about. And yet somehow, Congress still hasn’t acted.
The “Constitutional Concerns” Are a Scam
Every time age verification comes up, the tech lobby trots out its army of lawyers and think-tank mercenaries to scream about the First Amendment. They did it for years with state-level age verification laws. And then the Supreme Court handed them a humiliating loss in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. Age verification for adult content is constitutional. The court said so. Case closed.
The SCREEN Act is modeled on the state laws that already passed constitutional muster. The App Store Accountability Act is written in content-neutral language specifically designed to avoid strict scrutiny. The legal arguments against these bills aren’t serious — they’re delay tactics funded by companies that profit from children accessing content no child should ever see.
The “Digital ID” Panic Is Even Worse
The other favorite talking point of the anti-verification crowd is that age verification will create some kind of Orwellian digital identity system. As Schweppe points out, this is spectacularly dishonest. The state age verification laws explicitly prohibit websites and third-party verifiers from retaining personal identifying information beyond the verification process. Both federal bills include the same protections.
Meanwhile, the same tech companies screaming about privacy are already collecting more data on you than any government agency in human history. They know your location, your browsing habits, your purchasing history, your political views, and your medical concerns. They use all of it to serve you targeted ads. But ask them to check whether someone is old enough to watch hardcore pornography? Suddenly they’re privacy advocates.
And here’s the kicker: many of the organizations fighting age verification also actively lobby against comprehensive data privacy legislation. They don’t care about your privacy. They care about their business model.
Put Up or Shut Up
Twenty-five states have already passed age verification for adult websites. Four states have passed app store accountability laws. The Supreme Court has upheld it. Over 80 percent of the American people support it. The only entities opposing this are the pornography industry and the tech giants that profit from keeping children plugged into their platforms with zero parental controls.
If Congress can’t pass these bills with these numbers, with this legal precedent, and with this level of public support, then every member who votes no needs to be asked one question: who are you actually working for? Because it sure isn’t American families.
Pass the KIDS Act. Pass the App Store Accountability Act. Put parents and children first — and let Big Tech cry about it on the platforms they refuse to make safe.