Who's your daddy? Brian Lenney

Notice the mental map that leads to more Internet regulation

I do not wish to keep beating this dead horse but unfortunately, Sen. Brian Lenney keeps inviting critique of his rhetoric vs. his actions.

Much like many of his colleagues, Sen. Lenney is actually two people: there’s the one who would have you believe he’s all for self-governance and free markets, who deplores government-as-parent policies, and then there’s the one who actually casts votes in the Idaho Legislature.

In his latest Substack commentary, Lenney rightly takes aim at government efforts to protect kids from bad stuff online.

Lenney’s post has a meme of Uncle Sam with the caption “I am not your baby daddy” another meme of a masked figure with needles sticking out of his arm saying “govern me harder daddy.” And Lenney writes, casting a harsh eye on a bill in Louisiana last year:

You already have complete power to protect your children. The solution isn’t more regulation. It’s taking the damn phone away.

Stop asking state government to be mommy and daddy.

You’re the parent.

Your child lives in your home. Uses devices you purchased. Accesses apps you have authority to permit or prohibit. You have all the power, but only if you use it.

The App Store Accountability Act is theater funded by the company destroying children’s mental health. It accomplishes nothing except shifting burden to Apple and Google while Meta operates harmful algorithms without restriction.

Take the damn phone away.

Be the parent. Set the boundaries. Monitor their lives. Say no and mean it.

This would be wonderful if you didn’t know anything about Lenney’s votes to the contrary. If only the above were the extent of his position. It’s not.

The two Brian Lenneys. The one on the right talks about the importance of parents. The one on the left votes like he’s everyone’s parent. (AI generated image)

Lenney voted for legislation that puts Idaho government, for the first time ever, in the Internet regulation business, and unartfully at that.

Idaho’s Internet restriction — passed in 2024 and requiring age verification for visiting porn websites — also does absolutely nothing yet lets parents believe it has done something. If you happen to use a VPN on your phone or computer (and a lot of people do for the purpose of security and privacy) you wouldn’t even know the law is in effect. You’re accessing PornHub the same as you always have.

This is why PornHub probably lost very little business in Idaho; Idahoans are still going on PornHub and other porn websites located in foreign countries that don’t care about Idaho’s new law.

But notice what else Lenney talks about in his article. Porn isn’t his only concern:

Storing birthdates doesn’t prevent Meta from serving eating disorder content to vulnerable 14-year-olds after they open the app. {emphasis mine}

… and …

Compare [the Louisiana law proposal] to Idaho’s age verification law: Pornhub must verify ages before serving content. Not Apple. Not Google. The company profiting from potentially harmful material bears the compliance burden. {emphasis also mine}

… See where he’s going? And …

The real solution: make Meta (and similiar {sic} platforms) accountable for what they serve. If Instagram’s algorithm pushes pro-anorexia content to middle schoolers, that’s Meta’s responsibility. They built it. They profit from it.

… Ah like what Idaho did to porn websites. And …

When you hand a 12-year-old an unrestricted smartphone with social media accounts and bedroom device access, you made deliberate choices with predictable consequences.

• Rising depression

• Skyrocketing self-harm among young girls

• Suicide attempts completely out of control

… One more from Brian …

The “anxious generation” wasn’t created by app stores failing to verify ages.

It was created by algorithms deliberately designed to maximize engagement regardless of psychological impact, combined with parents who surrendered authority and demanded someone else fix problems they enabled.

So to summarize Lenney’s position: The senator believes:

• Parents should monitor their childrens’ Internet usage and not depend on government to solve their problems.

• But, if the government is going to solve parents’ problems, Idaho’s solution (mandating age verification before using websites) is OK.

• And oh, by the way, porn isn’t the only problem kids are facing online. They’re also depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicidal tendencies.

Based on this, it shouldn’t be really surprising to anyone, including Brian Lenney, when Lenney either brings a bill, sponsors a bill, or votes to further regulate Internet access in Idaho. And not just for porn. But also sites that give children access to other “harmful” content.

Just don’t call him “Daddy.” He really doesn’t like it. Even if it is true.

By the way, I’m not really that sour about Brian. In fact, I have more to say about him for paid subscribers below: