Internet

Join ITIF for an expert panel discussion examining how the rapid growth of state privacy laws is influencing the debate over federal privacy legislation.

ITIF’s spring seminar course explores core emerging technologies and issues that are reshaping our world and, in the process, creating public policy challenges and opportunities. The course is open to congressional and federal staff only.

Join us for a panel discussion examining the global movement to ban social media for youth, the tradeoffs these policies present, and alternative approaches that balance safety, rights, and the realities of growing up in a digital world.

As Daniel Castro writes in Government Technology, a new Information Technology and Innovation Foundation analysis finds a sharp “digital marriage divide,” with only 10 states offering largely end-to-end online processes while many still rely on paper forms and in-person visits. Castro argues the barriers are legal and administrative—not technological—and calls for reforms such as permitting electronic signatures to modernize marriage services

App store–level age verification laws pose privacy, security, and free-speech risks while leaving websites unregulated, whereas device-level, opt-in parental controls offer a more comprehensive and safer way to protect children online.

The Trump administration’s withdrawal from international cybersecurity forums like the GFCE and Hybrid CoE risks creating gaps in global coordination, early warning, and norm-setting. Strategic disengagement must be paired with replacement mechanisms to preserve multilateral cyber capacity, maintain allied cohesion, and safeguard U.S. interests.

Ash Johnson writes in The Hill that teen social media bans are based on moral panic rather than evidence, misdiagnose screen time as the harm, and should be replaced with nuanced, evidence-based policies that empower parents, incentivize safer platform design, and target specific, demonstrable risks.

Canada should prioritize boosting productivity through the adoption of advanced technologies across its firms and governments, rather than pursuing domestic ownership of existing infrastructure in the name of “digital sovereignty.”

Sen. Rand Paul’s call to revoke Section 230 over grievances with Big Tech highlights a broader risk: using the law as a political weapon would undermine online free speech, whereas reforms increasing transparency in content moderation could address concerns without dismantling its protections.

The TikTok deal shows that targeted structural safeguards can address data security risks without banning foreign apps outright. It also highlights unresolved challenges around reciprocity, uneven enforcement, and how governments should handle other Chinese tech platforms going forward.