Apple has parental controls that ensure your child will only have experiences you approve. How about you step up to the plate. Take care of your parental responsibilities instead of asking the government to cover for you. If you aren't responsible enough to raise your child properly, please don't reproduce.
This is a reasonable take that many of a libertarian bent will take. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing at this point, just pointing out some logistic issues.
1.) Parental controls are often not as intuitive and easy to learn and skillfully use as we might prefer, and I suspect the majority of homes in America have parents who are on average not as technically astute as the mainstream Mac Rumors user base. I remember learning how to use 'Screen Time' to shut of our kid's iPhone remotely as a disciplinary measure; I got it done, but it was a bit confusing at first.
2.) Even what parental controls to use isn't always clear. Apple has some, your home router may have some (possibly requiring subscription services), there are 3rd party programs, etc.
3.) Some homes have mixed ecosystem environments - so the parent has a Mac, the kid has a Windows PC because that's more in line with school, the parents have iPhones but the kid has an Android phone, etc.
And I wonder how many kids have their own computer, and how many family computers have different user accounts and privilege sets for each family member, vs. being a 'sit down and go' free-for-all?
4.) I get your point that if you don't bother to 'adequately protect' (a nebulous, loaded term but let's let that go for now) your kid you ought not to have a legit gripe with the government, but it's not just the parents who have an interest in protecting the wellbeing of the child, but the government (that's why we have Child Protective Services, etc.).
5.) Many people you'd find lacking do reproduce and don't lose custody of their kids, so this is the world we have to deal with, parents as they are rather than as they should be.
6.) American culture is litigious and accustomed to sort of 'living in a bubble' - mostly urban and suburban, we've wiped out most large predators that preyed on us, consumer protection laws, the Drug Enforcement Agency, government-mandated meat inspection, chlorinated water delivery, seat belt laws, helmet laws, etc. And a people accustomed to living in a civilized bubble often get inflated (maybe unrealistic) ideas about how 'safe' that bubble ought to be.
7.) There is a concern as to what extensive online porn exposure may do to the developing psychological maturation of youngsters. Just what the particulars are is likely debatable, but the idea teen boys spending a lot of time for years masturbating to porn sites might have deleterious effects and be an actionable threat is not unreasonable.
Of course, what about the threats we let alone in the name of freedom/liberty? McDonalds, KFC, pizza delivery, all those fried chicken tenders and French fries, etc.? Obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol and triglyceride levels are threats, too, but don't get between me and a McDonald's Quarter Pounder!
I'm not saying any of this means you're wrong. None of it makes me want to be required to have a detailed personal data file with the government and use facial recognition every time I want to use the Internet. While that's not what Texas tried to demand, many are concerned it's a step in that direction.
And all of this just makes access inconvenient, not impossible.
