this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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Right now? Nothing. Down the road, life in prison for terrorism. I’d suggest moving away from that jurisdiction
If their goal is to find an excuse to declare you a terrorist then there are much easier ways to do that that are already available to them. This really isn't an efficient way to do that.
And, as best as I'm aware, no age verification laws anywhere threaten any consequences for the user. The consequences are only for the OS makers.
(Granted, the California law, at least, could be read to say that it's the entity installing the OS to confirm ages, not necessarily the OS maker. So for most Linux distros that would shift the user age verification responsibility completely to the user installing the OS, but I'm not sure how that would work out in courts or whether websites and applications would recognize that. It will probably never actually be an issue that is adjudicated.)
Yet
This entire post is the frog sitting in their comfortable pot of water saying “This is fine, nothing to worry about!”
Exactly. I’m super surprised how many people are just kind of OK with all of this.
“It’s just a date, you can lie, don’t worry”
“It’s just your ID, if you’re over 18, don’t worry.”
“They’re only looking for criminals, if you’re not a criminal, don’t worry”
“They’re only looking for people who don’t act like them, look like them, believe the things they believe, vote the way they do, speak the way they do, so as long as you match them exactly, don’t worry”
My biggest frustration with the community is not that people don't like the proposed solution but that
I'm really not upset with individual users here. I understand that you are removed from the problem and don't understand it. I really don't blame you personally. I have had training on youth protection and it's not an easy problem, and just throwing the parents under the bus isn't fair. When it comes to child predators, they are often just as much the victims as the kids are. (Yes, I mean that.)
I'm upset with the EFF. They don't have an excuse for their ignorance. They've been taught the problem many times and just refuse to acknowledge it. (Red flag if there ever was one, if you ask me.) If they didn't like the verification rules then they need to start proposing alternative solutions (which they don't have).
Age verification laws have nothing to do with child predators. They never have. If they cared, they would focus on the problem—the platform. But they don’t.
The real single problem here is parents aren’t monitoring their children. When these bad things happen, the parents are ALWAYS like, “I had no idea that was going on.” The fuck are they doing with kids then?
But nooooooooooooooo…. Asking someone to be responsible for their own offspring is way too much for people to handle.
If you don’t, you’re a shit-fuck parent and your kids should be rehoused.
They are focusing on the platforms. That's exactly why Meta, et. al., are pushing for these laws. To off load that responsibility.
And if you are blaming the parents then you don't understand the problem.
If you are saying that parents shouldn’t be responsible for their children, you are the problem.
Are you saying that you literally haven't read any things else on this thread?
That statement means nothing. It’s just an attempt to avoid providing a response by shifting blame or implying ignorance without any reasons.
Okay, for your ignorance, parents bare some responsibility but not all the responsibility.
Just like the parents didn't bare all the responsibility with the Catholic Church abuses or the Boy Scout abuses, they also don't bare all the responsibility for the online abuses. The providers of the service also share in that responsibility.
The parents sent their kids to an institution they know rapes kids.
The parents let their kids on the internet knowing they would be exposed to predators.
You’re doing as much as you possibly can to blame everyone else BUT the parent.
I don’t want kids communicating with me. Verify they are a kid and have kid only platforms. Not the other way around.
Just in case you weren't aware, this also doesn't work in practice. People are selling "age-verified" Roblox accounts to adults https://www.wired.com/story/robloxs-ai-powered-age-verification-is-a-complete-mess/
Sure. There is no solution except asking the parents to monitor their kid.
End of story.
We don’t need age verification laws of any kind. We need proper parenting.
I agree that we don't need age verification laws. At the same time, I disagree that there is no other solution. The certainly is no ONE solution and there are no solutions that will capture all edge cases, but seriously going after specific companies for their lack of care in moderation will certainly help. Better moderation tools for federated social media will certainly help. Better education for parents on how to moderate in the modern internet will certainly help. Better tools for parents to create their own gated systems for their own kids will certainly help.
Most of these systems have tools in place to help parents. The parents don’t give a shit—that’s the actual problem. Everything online is avoidable. There’s always a block button. Having your priest get touchy and not knowing how to handle it is waaaaay different than CR33PYGIRL6969 trying to be a perv online. Push block. Done.
Having been in this advocacy space for a while, when it comes to the internet, most parents I talk to just don't understand. It's important to also state that many parents are working multiple jobs, are maybe single parents, and have very little time and energy for anything. That is not a personal failure, that is a systemic failure. At the same time, society is continually moving to an internet-first paradigm for everyone including children, and there is not much these parents can do to affect this situation. You need an internet connected device for schoolwork, for public transit, for after-school programs, and for socializing (because it's where your friends are, which is a reality we need to wrestle with).
Provide me with a scenario where a child is online and approached by someone of ill will and the child cannot just block them, and/or go to their parents?
It is my understanding that all social media applications have a method to block other users. The same thing goes for games with social aspects, like Roblox.
If the scenario in which this happens is due to poor parenting, then the problem is poor parenting. As far as I’m concerned I should never ever have the effects of someone’s poor parenting touch me in anyway.
If you don't understand how a child can be manipulated by an adult online, I don't know how to help you.
And then the parents find out because they monitor their online conversations.
PARENTS ARE AT FAULT FOR NOT MONITORING THEIR CHILDS ONLINE COMMUNICATION.
End of the fucking story.
Do you know where your kid is? Do you know who they talked to today? Do you know the names of their friends online and where they chat? Do you know what websites and apps your child uses?
If you said no to any of these, your child should be rehoused.
You need to gain a lot of empathy and understanding for human beings that are being crushed under the heel of our systems.
just to contrast with @org@lemmy.org here, I agree that this does not just fall on the parents. That is the same line of reasoning that gave us recycling as a solution for climate change. We need serious legislation and serious judicial action from our governments, and we're not getting that. ID gate laws are a flimsy attempt to do something that looks good on the news and maybe even seems like a no-brainer to people who are unfamiliar with the technical side of things. These companies that show clear negligence need to be seized by the state and stripped for parts. Only then will companies (maybe) be scared into good-faith engagement to protect people that need it. Really though, serious anti-trust action would make a huge dent in this issue as it would have a chilling effect on a growth-first economy. Really really though, we need revolution against capital.
Yeah someone needs to get sued hard and have a big loss. But the reality of the world is that everyone keeps passing the buck, and right now it has landed on you and me, and that’s pretty fucked up.
Yes! That's what you should be upset about. These companies are pushing these laws to get out of being held accountable for their products. Be upset about THAT and I'm on your side!
(But that would also mean that small developers and Fediverse hosts would also have to be held accountable for their service.)
I'm upset at both ID gate laws and the lack of strong anti-trust action. I'm also not going to assume a person only talking about one at a given time isn't also upset at the other. Discussions about what people "should" talk about are for leaders in organized movements to have with each other to create the most effective response. Doing so in a public setting like this isn't high-minded or insightful, it's a waste of breath. If you care about strategies and tactics, you can join an organized movement, move up in the organization, and have a real say.