Chris Griswold, the policy director at American Compass, recently argued that the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) does not threaten free speech as many conservatives and libertarians have warned. Griswold quoted my argument that Americans should consider the online world to be an extension of “real life” subject to established constitutional protections rather than an accessory to life open to extra-constitutional restrictions. He responded: “American social and legal norms not only permit but require us to keep kids out of dangerous environments like nightclubs, protect environments like playgrounds that are meant to be safe for kids, and prevent kids’ access to harmful products like alcohol.”
He chooses the wrong analogy. Going online resembles walking out the front door more than entering a nightclub. The internet — much of which flows through social-media sites these days — is not a place one frequents only for a night out. The digital world hosts an ever-increasing array of nearly all aspects of life — work, education, entertainment, socializing, communication, and more.
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