Fight for the Future

Online ID checks censor abortion information, Fight for the Future calls on platforms to resist

Digital rights nonprofit, Fight for the Future, is following up on a week of grassroots actions against online ID verification with a week of digital and in-person actions calling on platforms to resist age and ID check requirements because they censor critical content, including life-saving abortion information.

As lawmakers across the world continue to discuss how to keep people safer online, many misguided proposals (including many discussed at last week’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on online safety bills) include requirements to restrict certain content to younger users. In response to political pressure, digital platforms are looking for the path of least resistance and pre-complying, even before laws have passed. This is exactly what we’re seeing with YouTube, where AI is being used to assess user age, and in cases where it’s wrong, users are required to upload personal information in order to correct their age and access information.

Beyond the concerns with having to share personal data with companies that have shown they are unable to secure it, age verification laws are inherently meant to block off parts of the internet to younger users. And as we’ve seen with censorship throughout time, these policies always impact marginalized perspectives, including LGBTQ+ content and abortion information.

Fight for the Future is calling on online platforms to resist implementing online ID checks, and to commit to not pre-complying with these censorship laws. To pressure them to take strong, human-rights-preserving stances, we are launching a number of actions this week, including:

  • Mobile billboards TODAY (Monday) in New York and San Francisco (photos will be available here)
  • Sidewalk decals in New York near the Reddit HQ offices – because abortion resources on Reddit (especially the r/abortion subreddit) are truly critical for young people seeking information about abortion and must be protected from online ID checks
  • A variety of digital, audio, and video ads to spread information and encourage people to sign the petition to online platforms against online ID checks: https://www.stoponlineidchecks.org/abortion/

“Online ID checks are a disaster for abortion information online, which has never been more important than right now, when so many people in states with abortion bans are struggling to access abortion care and have to look to other states and online communities for resources,” said Sarah Philips, campaigner at Fight for the Future. “Thousands of people use Reddit every day to look for lifesaving information about accessing abortion care. Abortion funds use social media sites like Instagram to connect with abortion seekers and fund raise to continue to do their work under harsh conditions. Creators use Youtube to activate their communities and make activism + policy accessible. Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers would like nothing more than to further suppress this vital work. Online ID checks and invasive age verification systems fencing off abortion information, LGBTQ resources, and sex education behind an age-gate or forcing users to hand over government IDs and biometric information that can be stored, exploited, hacked, abused, or subpoenaed by law enforcement is genuinely a disaster for human rights and freedom online. It will essentially kill anonymity for everyone who uses these platforms and these companies should commit to resisting these ID checks, instead of riding the wave. Otherwise, they put all of us in danger, and worsen abortion access at an already terrifying time.”

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