Security and liberty must be carefully balanced against one another. The purpose of the American founding was to create a system that would prioritize both without encroaching on the other. It is often tempting to curtail liberties for the sake of safety. Sometimes, it makes sense to do so, such as in the case of criminalizing dangerous drugs. In other cases, we should err on the side of liberty, such as in the case of gun rights. It is a delicate balance, and it is nearly impossible to get right. Nonetheless, we should strive to achieve this balance.
This balance between security and liberties comes up in our day with social media. Since social media’s debut and widespread use last decade, we have seen numerous studies and reports on the detrimental effects of social media on human society. Social media has a particularly strong negative effect on young people. Children and teens with unrestricted social media access can end up spiraling into mental health crises. In many cases, they get caught up in radical leftist ideology. Many young people have fallen prey to the clutches of the transgender social contagion and antisemitic propaganda in the last few months.
One solution that lawmakers propose is age verification for social media users. This would ensure that young people do not have easy access to social media and would protect them from the dangers of being online at such a young age. However, age verification would require identity verification, and this would apply to everyone who uses social media. This type of system would tear away any possibility of online anonymity.
As we face an increasingly socialistic and censorious regime in our leftist-dominated government, it is important to recognize the risks of identity verification online. Already our society unrelentingly targets those guilty of wrong think. Forcing real names and faces online would only make things worse.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/free-speech/the-social-media-safety-trap/
