The sweeping internet surveillance legislation passed by the Massachusetts House, H. 5349, would require everyone in Massachusetts to upload their government-issued ID before using websites with user-generated content (think Wikipedia, Reddit or YouTube). Information onthese sites would be hidden from anyone who could not prove they were 16 (or 14 with parental approval). The policy passed 129-25 with Camberville Reps. Christine Barber, Marjorie Decker and Steven Owens voting aye, Reps. Erika Uyterhoeven and Mike Connolly opposed.
LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations condemn this sort of internet ID verification, and with good reason. The bill would isolate LGBTQ+ youth with unsupportive parents by letting parents block access to communities that support LGBTQ+ youth. It would aggravate the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Chiles v. Salazar, which makes it even easier for unaccepting parents to force LGBTQ+ kids to deny themselves while walling them off from support. As a trans woman and an attorney who works with LGBTQ+ people every day, I know this is not just a hypothetical situation — only 31% of trans people are accepted by their parents.
Privacy concerns extend far beyond LGBTQ+ communities. The ban would affect anyone who does not have or will not turn over government-issued ID. This includes people with a healthy distrust of surveillance contractors and youth under 16, but it also includes many older teens and the 11% of adult U.S. citizens who do not have a valid photo ID. Lack of photo ID disproportionately affects low-income people, elders, people of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities. Internet access is a functional necessity in U.S. society and walling off vast stores of information from disadvantaged communities will only exacerbate current disparities.
The views expressed herein are the author’s own.
Siobhan McDonough / Walden Street, Cambridge
A stronger
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Congratulations to State Representative Connolly for having the courage and good sense to vote NO on the internet ID bill recently passed by the Massachusetts House. This bill does not make the internet safer, it only allows the government to decide who can and what can or cannot be accessed by the public and makes turning over IDs and personal data to the government a standard procedure. Shame on Rep Decker, Barber and Owens for further eroding our personal freedoms.