New York just proposed the most invasive state-level age verification bill the US has seen. Senate Bill S08102 would extend age verification requirements down to the device itself: internet-connected devices, operating system providers, and app stores would all be required to implement what the bill calls “age assurance” before users can access their own hardware and software ecosystems.
Edit:
Meta is one of the lobbyists for the age verification bill.
Into the Metaverse: The Money and Motivations Behind Meta’s App Store Gambit
In May 2025, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative John James (R-MI) introduced the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA), a bill that would require app stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for users under 18. Meta has bankrolled a wildly expensive lobbying campaign to enact ASAA and its state-level analogs, and instead of recoiling in horror at taking kid privacy advice from Meta, some lawmakers are credulously going along with it.
Confirmed by Bloomberg : Meta Clashes With Apple, Google Over Age Check Legislation
The struggle has pitted Meta Platforms Inc. and other app developers against Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, the world’s largest app stores. Lobbyists for both sides are moving from state to state, working to water down or redirect the legislation to minimize their clients’ risks.
This year alone, at least three states — Utah, Texas and Louisiana — passed legislation requiring tech companies to authenticate users’ ages, secure parental consent for anyone under 18 and ensure minors are protected from potentially harmful digital experiences. Now, lobbyists for all three companies are flooding into South Carolina and Ohio, the next possible states to consider such legislation.
in addition, there are Over 50 Child Advocacy Groups Unite to Demand App Store Accountability
And good luck for that kid to go online if I confiscate their device.
I can't - teachers give them homework that must be done on the device all the time.
As a gen z, what school that uses online classroom environments and resources doesn't give kids school-monitored tech? And for my district, our Chromebooks were HEAVILY locked down and monitored. I remeber trying to search the term "guitar latina" for a music project once and getting my search flagged because of "latina." Most popular sites were firewalled/unaccessable (so .xxx domains were most likely blocked too). The terminal was literally disabled. Several system settings were disabled or unable to be edited. We couldn't download programs, and most extensions were blocked (I think they eventually blocked them all). Hell, we couldn't even change our desktop wallpaper.
Basically, at least at my middle and high school, it was very hard to access inappropriate material, and if you did, you were likely to get caught. Use cloudflare's family dns (they have a whole setup guide) for your home network and any devices that aren't fully locked down by the school (includes personal devices that aren't school owned), and put parental control on so your kids can't touch it.
If they get past all that, then congrats! You have kids who are very good at problem solving, searching the internet for info, and experimenting. All of which are great qualities for future cybersecurity professionals.
the school devices are locked down. However your experience shows why the locks are not good. Too many useful searches could be bad. They are not going to assign a team of humans to review every search result. Either they whitelist things so restricted that you can't research anything or they blacklist so little things not on the list spread faster than they can block. (Both is a real possibility)
they can do it at the computer that sits in your room.
At what point do I change from a concerned parent protecting my kids to an over protective hellicopter parent?
this is such a disingenuous argument. the situation was kids own devices have been confiscated, for a reason. that's when you fully supervise their computer use for things they are required to do. Obviously, when they get back their devices, that doesn't need to be restricted like that.