STOP ONLINE ID CHECKS TOOLKIT
What are ‘online ID checks’ and why are they a threat?
Put simply, online ID checks are protocols that websites and applications use to verify your age and identity online – and fascists LOVE them because they help them censor information online that they don’t like. Online ID checks are being promoted as convenient and as tools to keep kids safe, and with lawmakers pushing them so hard, companies are pre-complying and buying into the wave of age-gating the internet. However, online ID checks actually endanger young people, communities organizing for political change, access to abortion information online, and anyone who is posting information that the government would like to censor. This will also make the internet less safe and less usable (and anonymous) for everyone!
How will age verification impact Creators?
Blocked content (sex education, LGBTQ information, or abortion information) will be harder (if not impossible) to share with your audiences.
Clicking on a news article, logging onto social media, or accessing your favorite sites will be interrupted by ID verification tools, which will collect massive amounts of personal data and endanger vulnerable communities.
If you are a creator or org that cares about or makes content about issues impacting privacy, the LGBTQ+ community, surveillance + reproductive justice in particular, online ID checks impact you and your audience.
What can you do ?
Use your platform to call on lawmakers to protect digital privacy, freedom of information, and the very usability of the Internet by rejecting online ID check laws!
Suggestions:
🎥 Make a video or a post talking about why you think people should take action. Use your own voice. (If you don’t usually speak directly to the camera, no big deal. You’ve got your own style!)
💬 Relating your own audience and experience to these bills is the easiest and best way to go about this. You don’t need to know all of the legalese, your audience cares for the reasons you do.
Sample videos from TikTok:
Sample posts on Instagram:
Sample posts for Twitter:
📤 Circulate this toolkit to other creators and organizations you know. Mutuals, discord servers, all are great avenues to get more people on board.
📢 Put stoponlineidchecks.org and/or stoponlineIDchecks.org/abortion in your link in bio and direct your audience to sign the petition. This link has an overview of why online ID checks are a bad idea if you need ideas for posts.
💬 Continue to share about the ways using the internet for creative expression, community organizing, and knowledge sharing has impacted your life.
Resources, Background + Talking Points
As an online creator, there’s a lot of concerning legislation out there that can affect my livelihood and my ability to make content. Online ID check bills will enable censorship of content that conservative politicians disagree with and create barriers for vulnerable people to be able to use the internet. I think it’s important to protect freedom of speech and expression and LGBTQ resources on the Internet. Please take action now at stoponlineidchecks.org + stoponlineIDchecks.org/abortion.
If you want to fight fascism, taking action right now on online ID checks is imperative. This kind of legislation is spreading rapidly and could affect our freedom to use social media and talk about abortion rights, sex education, and LGBTQ resources. It can also impact undocumented people’s ability to access information. Many vulnerable populations are under attack right now- we need to do our part to make it more difficult for fascists to surveil them or block them from life-saving resources. Please take action now at stoponlineidchecks.org + stoponlineIDchecks.org/abortion.
📄 Tech Policy Press: Age Verification is Locking Trans People Out of the Internet
🏳️🌈 Some Democrats Are Helping the Trump Admin's Anti-LGBTQ+ Tech Agenda- Teen Vogue
Sample Posts for Social Media [Download Graphics Here]
Post sample 1 (Threads/Mastodon/Bluesky):
Part 1: Online ID Checks are being branded as ‘child safety’ laws to protect children online when they actually endanger vulnerable youth and marginalized communities more broadly.
Part 2: How you ask? A biometric scan or an ID upload can be a huge obstacle for undocumented communities. These practices can also prevent youth seeking life saving resources and information.
Part 3: But there’s something you can do to stop this.
Post sample IG/TikTok:
Online ID checks are not actually about child safety. They will enable censorship of content that conservative politicians disagree with + create barriers for vulnerable people to be able to use the internet. Tell your lawmakers to reject any legislation that requires websites to use government ID or AI biometric technology to limit users or access at stoponlineidchecks.org
Post sample 3:
Part 1: We all want the internet to be a safer place. But ID checks won’t make us safer, no matter who you are, how old you are, or what you’re doing online.
Part 2: In order to verify someone’s identity or age, websites collect + store your data, often through third party companies that expose people to identity and data theft: https://tinyurl.com/5522v3n7
Part 3: Online ID checks also create obstacles for marginalized people looking for vital resources and community online: https://tinyurl.com/46pn3njc
Part 4: Oppose any legislation requiring online age verification or other ID checks and tell your lawmakers to do the same: stoponlineidchecks.org + stoponlineIDchecks.org/abortion
Hashtags: #stopageverification #stoponlineidchecks #creatorsforafreeinternet #creatorsagainstcensorship
Reposts:
Bluesky → Bluesky post
Threads → Threads post
Mastodon → Mastodon post
Contact
📧 Reach out to Sarah Philips at sarahp@fightforthefuture.org with questions, concerns, or ideas.