It’s important to recognize, as we see more and more media mergers, that they are not about quality. They’re about control.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Best Big Media Merger Is No Merger at All
The state of streaming is... bad. It’s very bad. The first step in wanting to watch anything is a web search: “Where can I stream X?” Then yo...
The internet is essential to how people speak, learn, and participate in public life. When access depends on flawed technology or hard-to-obtain documents, we deepen existing inequalities and silence the people who most need these platforms.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
10 (Not So) Hidden Dangers of Age Verification
It’s nearly the end of 2025, and half of the US and the UK now require you to upload your ID or scan your face to watch “sexual content.” A h...
Mandatory social media disclosure and surveillance “has not proven effective at finding terrorists and other bad guys,” EFF’s Sophia Cope told The New York Times. “But it has chilled the free speech and invaded the privacy of innocent travelers” and Americans, too.
U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History
Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don’t need visas, would have to share five years’ worth of social media.
All forms of age-gating are “a privacy nightmare that burdens the civil liberties of people both young and old,” EFF’s @npub1xz6k...0xty told Al Jazeera, forcing all to share sensitive information that could be abused or hacked.
Al Jazeera
Why is Australia banning social media for teenagers?
Critics say new law is 'normalising surveillance' for young people and risks cutting them off from support networks.
Losing anonymity online “means that personal private data is able to be collected and retained and stored and breached, maybe used by bad actors linking your identity to the sites that you visit online,” EFF’s Molly Buckley told Michigan Public.
Michigan Public
Michigan bill would require parental consent for teens on social media
Michigan lawmakers are weighing legislation that would require major social media platforms to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for...
Today we’re launching
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Age Verification and Age Gating: Resource Hub
Age verification (or age-gating) laws generally require online services to check, estimate, or verify all users’ ages—often through invasive to...
, our one-stop shop to answer all of your questions about online age verification mandates. What’s at stake for users? How do we push back? What even IS age verification, anyway? Visit
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Age Verification and Age Gating: Resource Hub
Age verification (or age-gating) laws generally require online services to check, estimate, or verify all users’ ages—often through invasive to...
 now to explore our resources and join the fight to protect the internet.
In general, there is a high risk that the law will end up being extremely complex. The risk categories in the Commission's text, in particular, will quickly lead to mandatory maximum-risk mitigation measures (such as scanning and age verification).
Electronic Frontier Foundation
After Years of Controversy, the EU’s Chat Control Nears Its Final Hurdle: What to Know
After a years-long battle, the European Commission’s “Chat Control” plan, which would mandate mass scanning and other encryption-breaking mea...