[CALL FOR PAPERS] A critical study of policy initiatives requiring online age verification

A CRITICAL STUDY OF POLICY INITIATIVES REQUIRING ONLINE AGE VERIFICATION

Deadline July 7^th 2024

Sciences Po Digital, Governance and Sovereignty Chair is opening up a call for papers aimed at researchers and focusing on the issue of the practical and philosophical effects of both U.S. and E.U. policy initiatives requiring online age verification.

Who are we?

The Digital, Governance and Sovereignty Chair is an interdisciplinary program within Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs, which brings together researchers to analyse the economic, legal, social and institutional transformations brought by digital innovation. Our objective is to gather insights and perspectives on technology and digital policy from academic research, politics and civil society. 

Topic of submission

Driven in part by a number of high-profile books and studies about the supposed effects of technology and social media on teens, the last few years have seen a huge increase in calls for age-based regulation of social media platforms and other technologies. In the United States, states like Kansas, Florida, and Idaho, have all passed requirements for  “adult” websites to verify visitors’ age before allowing access. In the EU, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany have instituted similar restrictions. 

But policy around age-based identity verification has both practical problems in terms of feasibility as well as philosophical trade-offs to youth privacy protection and freedom of expression. Despite their good intent, the result of such age-gating restrictions might ultimately do little for child-safety at the cost of user privacy. What are the practical means of enforcement for platforms looking to comply with age verification technology? Are these laws doubling down on technosolutionism? How accurate are new technologies like facial recognition and what cost do they pose to user privacy? Paper proposals can include and incorporate quantitative and qualitative data, expert opinion, and engage in the existing scholarly literature both in the U.S. and E.U. that address these topics. 

Applicants eligibility

The call is aimed at all researchers conducting or holding a PhD and belonging to the Sciences Po community. Applications from researchers outside the community will also be considered.

Remuneration

The selected author will receive a funding of 6,000 Euros, paid upon completion and submission of the study.

Format of application and timeline

Abstracts should be written in English language, they should contain the draft title of the research and be no longer than 400 words.

The final research paper is envisaged to be about 70 pages to 100 pages with text double-spaced. 

The deadline for abstract submissions is July 7th 2024. The selected author will be notified by the end of July. 

The final paper will need to be submitted by December 2024. The reviewed version of the papers will be published on the website of the Chair. The Research Paper may also be submitted to major international journals.

Researchers interested in applying to the Call for Papers should submit their abstract to eleonore.devulpillieres@sciencespo.fr by July 7, 2024, 11:59pm.

The application should specify and/or contain: 

• Title of the research
• Academic affiliation and title 
• Research areas and specialisation
• Email and phone contact
• The abstract attached in pdf format
• Link to previous publications [Optional]

Assessment

Submissions will be assessed on the basis of their quality and relevance by Sciences Po Chair’s Scientific Committee. 

For any questions, please contact eleonore.devulpillieres@sciencespo.fr