FTC commissioner says online age verification ‘offers a better way’ to protect kids

The FTC, led by Commissioner Mark Meador, is urging age verification online to protect children and promote AI-driven behavioral checks as a privacy-conscious tool. The agency has ramped up COPPA enforcement — including a $10 million Disney settlement and a lawsuit against Sendit — while mixed court rulings, including a Supreme Court decision upholding a Texas age-verification law, are driving state-level action. #FTC #COPPA #Disney #Sendit

Keypoints

FTC Commissioner Mark Meador supports age verification and AI-based behavioral detection to protect minors online.
At least 25 states have passed laws requiring age verification for some online content.
Court decisions are mixed, but the Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring porn sites to verify ages.
Meador cited sharp increases in adolescent suicide and self-harm since 2010 as evidence of digital harms to children.
The FTC has aggressively enforced COPPA, securing a $10 million settlement with Disney and suing the operator of the Sendit app.