Center for Democracy & Technology

In an effort to block kids from online content intended for adults, some have argued that age-verification or age-assurance tools offer the possibility of simple, effective guardrails. In our brief to the Supreme Court in 2024, the Center for Democracy & Technology laid out serious concerns these tools raise regarding privacy and First Amendment freedoms—in addition to questions about their efficacy.  But that doesn’t mean technical solutions can’t address

Despite the emergence of new frameworks, guidance, and recommendations to support the overall responsible use of artificial intelligence by public agencies, there is a dearth of guidance on how to decide whether AI should be used in the first place, including how to compare it to other solutions and how to document and communicate that decision-making process to the public. This brief seeks to address this gap by proposing a four-step framework that public administrators can use to help them determine whether to proceed with an AI system for a particular use case:

This report summarizes the key discussions and insights from an in-person symposium held in September 2024 on the topic of children’s online safety policy. During the symposium, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) attempted to foster meaningful dialogue, identify areas of consensus and disagreement, and chart actionable paths forward. Key themes from the symposium include: