The Dispatch Room
Technology
The Technology desk examines artificial intelligence, digital identity, surveillance, online speech and the platforms mediating modern life. The focus is not only what new systems can do, but who controls them and how their incentives affect ordinary users.
Commentary
Protecting Children—or Building the Digital ID State?
Social-media companies have earned public distrust. But handing governments a universal age-verification machine could turn a child-safety campaign into permanent identity surveillance.
Daniel Mercer · Aug 26, 2026 · 7 min read