Opinion: Governor Healy’s Social Media Ban is Even Worse Than You Think

Governor Healey and several misguided MA lawmakers recently advanced some invasive online ID check legislation, (see also here and here) in the form of a “social media ban” for young people.

Lawmakers claim this is about “kids safety.” But if their proposal becomes law, it would require all 7 million of us state residents to submit government IDs or face scans to untrustworthy Big Tech companies and insecure third-party vendors, just to access social media (and even basic sites like Wikipedia). Do you trust Elon Musk with your personal information?

Smaller and non-profit tech platforms like Bluesky and Mastodon, that can’t keep up with these bills’ unreasonable data-harvesting requirements, would be fined out of existence, only cementing Big Tech dominance.

Queer, trans, and politically active youth with unsupportive parents would be subject to having their accounts restricted and deleted with no recourse. Supportive parents could be forced to send big tech companies their kids’ birth certificate to create an account. Everyone from abuse survivors to journalists would find themselves suddenly unable to use the internet anonymously to find resources and share their stories.  I don’t see how this makes anyone safer.  Personally, I’d rather not give Mark Zuckerberg or other tech CEOs my personal information.

Not to mention, this sets a dangerous precedent for our supposedly progressive state to demand ID checks and lock young people off the internet— especially as Trump and ICE ramp up their surveillance and censorship, using our sensitive data to target immigrant communities and spy on anti-ICE activists.

There are much better ways to protect kids than spying on everyone. Mass lawmakers could start with passing a comprehensive data privacy bill that would actually crack down on Big Tech abuses and make the internet safer for everyone. During business hours, the Governor can be reached at  (617) 725-4005.

Brooks Ballenger is a resident of Amherst.