Mastodawn

A New Bill proposes Federal Age Verification on any Operating Systems in entire U.S https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8250/all-info

Another slippery slope to target everyone, especially minority groups, and make their life hell under the name of protecting kids. If you want to protect kids, tell Meta, Google, & all other social media companies not to let kids usew the app. It is that simple. But Meta, who is behind the lobbying is niw shifting this burden to OS providers and targeting everyone on the planet.

Freevolt 19h ago

@nixCraft I'd say the idea is equivalent to asking for your ID on your doorstep to prevent kids from buying alcohol. Sounds like a good "child protection," eh?

Freevolt 19h ago

@nixCraft If you (=readers of this post, not nixCraft) need more explanations, which title do you think fits better here?: child protection vs. mass surveillance?

Andrey Bondarenko 18h ago

@freevolt24 @nixCraft the proposal has nothing to do with child protection.

OutsideCasey 18h ago

@freevolt24 @nixCraft good analogy

@freevolt24
Looks like a good analogy to me.

@nixCraft
#AgeVerification #ID #privacy

🇨🇦 Mandy Roy

@Earl @freevolt24 @nixCraft I understand your point and your sentiment, but this picture seems to be AI slop.

@capergrrl
The image is AI-generated, but the words are not, and were added by me to the image in Gimp.

Zeka Parıltısı 13h ago

@Earl @capergrrl When uploading images to the web, you should include descriptive alt text to ensure accessibility and clarity

FLOSSbOxIN 19h ago

@nixCraft
That way it is easy to fill their data centre and become multi trillionaire or whatever the figure would be.
Call #terminator

Jeff Clough 19h ago

@nixCraft H. R. 8250 is going to be even worse than the state-level bills. While we don't have the text of the bill yet, Gottheimer's official statement explicitly says that OSs will have to *verify* age, and that self-reporting isn't enough. https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/release-gottheimer-announces-bipartisan-parents-decide-act-to-protect-kids-online

RELEASE: Gottheimer Announces Bipartisan “Parents Decide Act” to Protect Kids Online

Above: Gottheimer announces new legislation to protect kids online. RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Today, April 2, 2026, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced the Parents Decide Act, bipartisan, commonsense legislation to strengthen online protections for children and give parents greater control over what their kids can access on phones, tablets, and other devices. Watch Gottheimer’s announcement here. Gottheimer’s […]

Josh Gottheimer

Pomegranate_Stew 14h ago

@jcnotwit @nixCraft
I’ve already had my identifying information stolen at least twice from breaches of companies which were supposed to keep it safe. Thanks, but no thanks. This is just another identity theft vector in the making.

Waitman Gobble 6h ago

Maybe he changed his mind after receiving some 'good feedback' link is 404

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Waitman Gobble 6h ago

Oh I see. The text of the bill isn't available so I guess we will find out soon :)

Text
Not available yet.

Cosponsors
1 Cosponsor (1 Republican)

Prognosis
1% chance of being enacted (details)

[email protected]:~$

@nixCraft I share your concerns around age verification in general; however, I don’t quite agree that the burden should be shifted to social media companies to do the age verification. Done right, age verification at the OS level has a better chance of privacy preservation than at the app or browser level.

OutsideCasey 18h ago

@kodamachameleon @nixCraft it is social media vendor’s responsibility, that’s why they include in terms of service (to avoid liability). They are lobbying to shift it away from themselves.

All this is just large groups trying to offload risk. No one wants to hold this bag. The risk is too high. Which is entirely why it shouldn’t be done.

The fact that they are lobbying so hard to off load the responsibility is the giveaway that it’s a bad idea.

[email protected]:~$

@OutsideCasey @nixCraft which is why the bigger issue is government trying to be your parent. Personally, I’d like to see more resources go towards equiping parents/guardians than the government replacing them.

derptron 18h ago

@nixCraft Awesome.

Maybe I can make a business of removing all the government mandated bullshit from your computer.

Kevin Karhan 18h ago

@nixCraft the #USA is a #cyberfadcist #shithole and EVERYONE needs to #boycott that shit and #RefuseToComply!

I will ( @OS1337 )!
- Will you?

Sam Hawkins 18h ago

@nixCraft is there any political voice around in the US opposing this bullshit?

Ozzie D, NP-hard

@nixCraft Hey Grover Norquisling, where ya been, mate? How's that "drown it in the bathtub" plan working out for ya? I'm sure it's all according to plan in your echo chamber.

I wish I had time to compile a great big beautiful book of all the Orwellian bills that these so-called small-government corporatist clowns have enabled, and drop it on their heads.

Sassinake! ᑐ ∪ ∩ ⊂18h ago

Amazing they're not just going for Internet providers to grant or block access to the internet. Why the OS?

Because M$ and Apple have been losing users.

Eventually, the Machines will run everything, while a few VIPs will sit in their bunkers, drone civilians for sport, and deny any responsibility for anything.

contrasocial 17h ago

@Sassinake @nixCraft

Could be there's already too much legislation in place protecting ISPs from having to do this stuff.

I'd suspect its the same reason water finds the path of least resistance.

Sassinake! ᑐ ∪ ∩ ⊂17h ago

@contrasocial @nixCraft

water, or oil.

Rafael M.17h ago

@nixCraft i wonder why not put this age verification into the products instead of an OSes.

Synthyx & Mori 17h ago

Love is in the air~

Wrong. Age Verification in my Operating System.

@nixCraft "And for other purposes."

zetabeta 17h ago

although he is corporate democrat, so called "problem solver". are democrats planning loosing in 2026 and 2028. i don't like to support this kind trojan horse mass surveillance in the name of protecting kids.

republicans are already bad as something, but this might make defending democrats more painful.

these days i feel, that democrats want to be republicans instead of republicans.

DazRunner #belfast2corkrun 17h ago

@nixCraft the *verification* user journey:

Age Verification -> Identity Verification -> Political Affiliation Verification -> Work Camp Verification

Tech is getting infinitely more powerful and invasive. Leaving a power vaccum to be filled by power hungry organizations that can't resist.

Ring of Sauron anyone? 💍💍💍

The root cause has to be addressed... 🤔 Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.

#antifa #europe #power #trump

maya_b 🇨🇦15h ago

✋ uhmmm how is my oven going to verify the age of it's users? or my new gaming mouse that runs ZephyrOS?

@nixCraft Why the fuck isn't this part of parental control on devices? When device boots for first time, it should ask who the user will be. Pick Child and lock it with custom PIN. Job fucking done.

Instead they are going the entire other way hoarding user biometric data, images and IDs. All to "protect" children. Get the fuck off.

Some claim this would expose children more. Um yeah, what does "unverified" does now? Same damn thing.

This is so fucking stupid and everyone just went on board.

Nine Stones Close 15h ago

@nixCraft authoritarianism surveillance, the Stasi would be proud.

🇨🇦 Mandy Roy

@nixCraft Can you share this over on Bluesky so I can share this with someone who isn't really active here on Mastodon?

Nicole Parsons 13h ago

The scope of the corruption behind this must be huge.

American tech telling the globe that a corrupt politician, and his fossil fuel funded fascists, can dictate state surveillance adoption for everyone on the planet.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/what-the-verdict-against-meta-and-google-says-about-the-way-we-live-now

https://theconversation.com/meta-and-google-just-lost-a-landmark-social-media-addiction-case-a-tech-law-expert-explains-the-fallout-278409

https://www.forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2026/03/26/siri-reboot-sora-shutdown-meta-and-google-lose-mental-health-lawsuits/

Instead of sucking it up over their lost lawsuit on negligence & public safety, Meta & Google are funded to get state surveillance embedded in every device.
https://techoversight.org/2025/07/29/bloomberg-meta-google-lobbyists-fight-to-pass-the-buck-on-kids-online-safety/

What the Verdict Against Meta and Google Says About the Way We Live Now

Jeannie Suk Gersen on a California jury’s rewarding of damages in a lawsuit that found Meta and Google liable for a woman’s addiction to the social-media apps Instagram and YouTube.

The New Yorker

SpaceLifeForm 7h ago

If one can install Linux, they are of age.