‘Device-level age verification is our best shot at protecting kids online’
Nicholas Creel at Newsweek
Laws “continue to lag the technological developments that came with the creation of the internet, particularly when it comes to protecting our kids,” says Nicholas Creel. Governments should “implement age verification at the device level, making smartphones themselves the guardians of age-appropriate access.” This has “advantages over the current approaches being adopted by governments which largely require individual content providers to verify user age.” This “represents our best chance at creating a safer digital environment for our children.”
‘I dreamed of this many Indian Americans in politics. I’m heartbroken by the reality.’
Isha Sharma at USA Today
People “should be thrilled about the rising representation of Indian Americans in politics. Unfortunately, I am not,” says Isha Sharma. Instead of “authentic leaders, what I overwhelmingly see is a band of characters with questionable morals thirsty for the spotlight and a taste of power.” We “have descendants of Indian immigrants” who are “lobbying or voting against the key policies, like immigration and equality, that gave them the privilege to rise to positions of power in the first place.”
‘Why we need to embolden women and girls to keep running for leadership’
Marianne Schall at the Chicago Tribune
Something “I urge us to be vigilant about” is “making sure the outcome of this election does not deter girls from aspiring to become our next generation of leaders,” says Marianne Schall. Without “enough examples of female leaders, girls and women can feel restricted by the idea that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see.'” Kamala Harris’ loss is “all the more reason why we must affirm our commitment to gender equality and women’s representation in politics.”
‘The full truth about the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program must be known’
Chris Esdaile at Al Jazeera
The U.S. Senate’s post-9/11 CIA torture report’s “heavily redacted executive summary nevertheless represents the high-water mark of official US recognition of its role in one of the most egregious recent examples of systemic state torture,” says Chris Esdaile. Over “20 years after the abuses, official secrecy reigns.” For as “long as that remains the case, a stain remains on the record of all those states who had a role in these abuses.”