Early on, I got a Bluesky account and it is just sitting there, pointing to my self-hosted Mastodon server for any old Twitter followers that want to find me.

Today, Ohio started age verification for any website "primarily centered on explicit content and makes a significant amount of money on said content."

Bluesky doesn't meet that threshold yet they want age verification. Sorry, Bluesky. I'm out.

#AgeVerification #Ohio #privacy #bluesky

The law: "An Act, Am. Sub. H. B. No. 96" (pdf). Starts on page 655 https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/api/v2/general_assembly_136/legislation/hb96/07_EN/pdf

On June 30, 2025, Ohio enacted HB 96, the bill for the fiscal years of 2026–2027. The bill contained the Ohio Innocence Act, which requires websites to verify user ages to prevent minors from viewing harmful content.

The law targets porn and other unnamed harmful sites that is primarily centered on explicit content and makes a significant amount of money on said content.

The new law requires pornography websites to use a commercial service, or third-party or government database, that uses photo IDs or transactional records, such as mortgage or employment data, to confirm the user is at least 18 years old. The data would be deleted once age verification is completed.

Age verification takes effect on September 30, 2025.