Texas has joined the growing list of states implementing new age verification and parental consent laws for app stores. The advocates of these laws may have good intentions—the rise of social media has had significant negative effects on children and teens—but it does raise an eyebrow to see red states deemphasizing small-government values in favor of state intervention. As Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison advocates for mass surveillance to “influence public behavior,” and the UK moves forward with mandatory digital IDs under the guise of immigration enforcement, America risks sleepwalking into a high-tech version of "1984." The road to authoritarianism is paved with good intentions—and it’s being built one digital verification at a time.