UK users of Reddit, X, Insta, FB, Bluesky, TikTok, and many other popular platforms are now facing problems. They are being forced to verify their age using government issued IDs and a selfie. All of these for-profit corporations may use this information further for profit or may not even store user information securely. This is a nightmare scenario for many, and I wouldn't be surprised if other governments adopt similar laws.
@nixCraft I hope this will move a lot of people to use VPNs and not to compliance
@nixCraft Fortunately (sic) enough this Labour government might be considering banning vpn's altogether?? And then the social democrats (just to be clear usually my kind of party) wonder why they're losing elections? Bootlicking Trump and then mimicking China. Bring it on!

@nixCraft they are all optional, so just don't sign up.

The worry is not the sites, or data storage, it is the government issued ID bit....

Soon you will need an ID to do anything in the UK.....

Tory tony finally gets his ID card dream.

@nixCraft
Is it a criminal offence to lie to those companies? Asking for a whole bunch of friends ;)
@davva23 Lying it not illegal. Anything involving lying using official documents can easily be.
@nixCraft As a Brit living abroad, I miss my country. But knowing that laws like these are implemented it’s not really too bad after all to be abroad
@nixCraft This is absurd and intrusive. I’m in the US where authoritarianism is taking over. I will not comply.

@nixCraft  Could a government make age verification service that could be integrated to other platforms while keeping user anonymous. What would be handicaps? I wouldn't mind this for keeping children off from certain... kind of content.

World really isn't aware of the internets effect on generations coming up.

@nixCraft I'm hoping constituents tell their politicians how broken the law is, and could encourage dishonesty from children since they don't have IDs. There was a similar law in Australia but I think it's been weakened now because it was such a mess.
@x0 @nixCraft Doubleplusgood eh? I mean this is Oceania at its maximum.
@x0 @nixCraft Or even worse like the Combine in the Half Life series. Very extreme.
@nixCraft Yes, Australia did miss the boat for being the first to implement poorly thought out social media ban laws, but at least they will be the second. We'll be going down that messy road in December.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-30/teen-social-media-ban-explained/105590990
How will the federal government's under-16s social media ban work? Here's what we know

Australia is months away from implementing its world-first social media ban for teens. But questions still remain around how the restrictions will work. 

ABC News
@nixCraft I'm in the UK and have no such problems,…but it might be because I do not have Reddit, X, Insta, FB, BlueSky and TikTok...just Mastodon :) #happylife #free
@nixCraft The EU is working on something similar, but that will be an app instead – which only verifies age without handing over data. Forcing people to send their personal ID to ad-driven corporations is insanity.
@nixCraft Well, I had no issue using Tiktok and Instagram. Don't know about other platforms you mentioned.
Plus I saw on news that this was for platforms with adult contents like Pornhub.
The UK’s new online safety laws are already a disaster

Since the Online Safety Act was implemented earlier this week, people have been blocked from accessing vital information about Palestine, sexual health, transitioning, self-harm... and labubus

Dazed
@nixCraft "Just use VPN" reply guy in 3, 2,...