Age gating isn't it.

1. it is a thinly-veiled surveillance information grab
2. it's a digital sovereignty issue
3. online communities can be Good, Actually
4. ... it's probably not going to work
5. age gating means dancing around the real issue of holding Big Tech accountable

(also includes tips for how to get in touch with your representatives if you are Canadian and would like to voice your opposition. The time to do that is right now!)

https://technically-good.ca/blog/2026-04-age-gating-isnt-it/

#ageGating #ageVerification #surveillance #privacy #socialMedia

Age-Gating Isn't It, Fam

So. The Liberal party here in Canada - the party that now has a majority in the federal government - has adopted a motion to ban children under 16 from socia...

Technically Good ✨
438 Experts Said Age Verification Is Dangerous. Legislators Are Moving Forward With It Anyway.

In early March, 438 security and privacy researchers from 32 countries signed a massive open letter warning that age verification mandates for the internet are technically impossible to get right, …

Techdirt

「子供のソーシャルメディア禁止法」は何を履き違えているのか

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://p2ptk.org/privacy/5527

誰が「年齢制限」を求めているのか――年齢制限法は子供をダシにした検閲・支配の手段である

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://p2ptk.org/freedom-of-speech/5499

Well, we don't decide what the customers decide to ship, or where it goes. We don't enforce policy like that; our job is just to provide a neutral platform for others to use to accomplish their goals. We don't even know what they ship - we just build the train cars. We don't even know where Bergen-Belsen is.

This is a post about #systemd.

#AgeVerification #AgeGate #AgeGating #identification #deanonymization #anonymous #fascism #fascist #compliance #ComplyInAdvance #DoNotComply #DoNotComplyInAdvance #resistance #freedom #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #coconspirator #accomplice #DeathCamp #ConcentrationCamp

Ageless Linux

An interesting response to unworkable, ill-advised and ultimately pointless age gating for OS providers.

Everyone will eventually be taught to lie about their age. Everyone will have a birthday on the 1st January 1970.

https://agelesslinux.org/

#Linux #AgeGating #Protest

Ageless Linux — Software for Humans of Indeterminate Age

14 year old Max has the right diagnosis (designed to maximise engagement), politicians have wrong solution (bans which require everyone to be policed on the internet). The problem is the business model so politicians need to regulate *that*.
#SocialMedia #AgeGating #OverPolicing #AttentionEconomy

https://news.sky.com/story/is-social-media-messing-up-our-kids-spains-battle-against-doomscrolling-schoolchildren-13509592

Is social media messing up our kids? Spain's battle against doomscrolling schoolchildren

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called social media the digital "Wild West" and said the proposed under-16s ban is part of a raft of measures aimed at making children safer online. The move has sparked anger from Elon Musk.

Sky

Another failed attempt at fining a American company. #Ofcom #Agegating

Reddit fined £14m by UK data watchdog over age verification checks | BBC News

https://youtu.be/rg-M2r396bE?si=Jn3GE4vFWYvAVJta

Reddit fined £14m by UK data watchdog over age verification checks | BBC News

YouTube

Thanks to Pirat_nation and Mr_T for sharing this.

A bill sponsored by State Senator Matt Ball and State Representative Amy Paschal (both Democrats) would require operating systems to provide "Age Attestation".

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-051

Firstly, if I understand the bill correctly, the correct term is age-gating:

PROVIDE AN ACCESSIBLE INTERFACE AT ACCOUNT SETUP THAT REQUIRES AN ACCOUNT HOLDER TO INDICATE THE BIRTH DATE OR AGE OF THE USER OF THAT DEVICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING AN AGE SIGNAL TO APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE IN A COVERED APPLICATION STORE

Also known as self-declaration, age-gating means requiring users to self-declare their age or birth date before accessing a site.

Or in this case, when setting up an OS-level account.
Age assurance would also be an acceptable term, as it covers all forms of detecting a user's age.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/to-read-this--please-upload-photo-id

As I understand it, it requires all operating systems to ask for their user's age when creating a new account. That age can then be accessed by applications on the device, who are required to use it unless they have evidence the user is a different age. Applications are forbidden from sharing this information with a third party for purposes other than age assurance.
Any OS-level account created before 1 January 2028 is required to verify its user's age before 1 July 2028.

Violations may be punished with up to $2,500 in civil fines, unless the violation was intentional, in which case the fine is up to $7,500.

#Colorado #AgeAssurance #AgeGating

SB26-051 Age Attestation on Computing Devices | Colorado General Assembly

With news that the #UK is considering #ageGating #VPNs, here's your periodic reminder that you don't need to pay a #VPN service (and potentially have to do an age-check, in future) to have a VPN.

For the last ten years, I've just been spinning up cheap VMs running #WireGuard on cloud providers when I need a VPN, and then throwing them away afterwards, for a cost of usually less than 8 cents (USD) per hour.

🔗 Here's how: https://danq.me/run-your-own-wireguard-vpn

Run your own WireGuard VPN

I stopped paying for VPN services a decade ago and I haven't looked back. When I 'need' a VPN service, I just spin one up on cheap VM services, and then I throw it away when I'm done. It's cheaper and more-customisable... and if the UK goes ahead with an idea to age-gate VPN services, it might soon become more-convenient too.

Dan Q