New America

In 2023, more than 60 bills were introduced at the state and federal level requiring greater parental consent, age restrictions, or safety-by-design measures. Half as many bills have already been introduced in the first few months of 2024. Most of these laws target youth access to online adult content and sales that are age-gated in real life. Yet some states are going further to apply age verification requirements to social media, responding to growing concerns about children’s experiences online.

Lilian Coral, an experienced public interest and technology leader, has joined New America as Senior Director of the Open Technology Institute (OTI) and Head of New America’s Technology and Democracy Programs. Coral will oversee New America’s work on a broad range of issues at the intersection of technology and democracy at a time when digital equity, privacy concerns, online free expression, and other key tech policy issues are at the forefront of US public debate. Coral served most recently as Director of National Strategy and Tech Innovation at the John S. & James L.

Since 2020, misinformation and disinformation related to election and voter suppression have continued to spread at a growing rate across online platforms. While internet platforms ramped up attempts to combat such information during the 2020 elections, many of these efforts appear to have been temporary measures. In anticipation of the 2022 US midterm elections, this report evaluates how online platforms are combating misleading election information against a selection of recommendations made by the Open Technology Institute in 2020.

Exploring the need for a Digital Equity Foundation, options and best practices for its potential structure, governance, and the benefits such a foundation could bring to the public.