July 3, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: As a resident of Buena Vista, I am deeply concerned by Rep. Ben Cline’s support for the recently passed “KIDS Act” (which incorporates the Kids Online Safety Act). While protecting children online is a vital goal, this specific piece of legislation tackles the problem by sacrificing the digital privacy of every single adult and family in Western Virginia.
To enforce its strict mandates, the KIDS Act will inevitably pressure everyday websites and platforms to implement invasive age-verification checks. This means everyday citizens will be forced to hand over sensitive personal data, biometric scans, or government identification just to access standard parts of the internet.
In an era where massive corporate data breaches happen daily, forcing platforms to collect even more of our personal information is dangerous. It puts our private data at an extreme risk of being leaked, hacked, or tracked by advertisers and bad actors alike. Censorship and government- mandated surveillance are not the right ways to keep families safe online.
Representative Cline has long promised to protect our constitutional liberties and keep government overreach out of our daily lives. Supporting the KIDS Act directly contradicts those values. I urge Representative Cline to reconsider his stance as this legislative package moves forward, listen to the privacy concerns of his actual constituents in the 6th District, and vote to protect our digital freedom. LAMONT TURNER Buena Vista
