it is excessively clear that age-gating the internet is not the solution to kids’ online safety.
I'm on the fence about whether the current push to do age verification is just nannyism that seems to be incapable of seeing how these tools will be misused or whether it is actively malicious efforts by those in government to control the people to whom they are supposedly responsible.
Perhaps you’ve seen the memes as large platforms like Spotify and YouTube attempt to comply with the OSA, while smaller sites—like forums focused on parenting, green living, and gaming on Linux—either shut down or cease some operations rather than face massive fines for not following the law’s vague, expensive, and complicated rules and risk assessments.
This EFF article is full of examples of how age verification is a disaster. Sure, the kinks will get worked out, but I simply don't understand how any governments mandated gating of the internet leads anywhere except dyatopia.
In the sets way that i believe kyc/aml is a disaster that is clearly net harmful I see age verification laws being a horrible web of regulation and bureaucracy we will be stuck with for decades.