Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK - No Way I Trust any Social Network with my ID
I don't live in the UK, but my point just is that I would never upload my government ID to any social network. I don't even like having to upload it to government sites, as they have a tendency to get hacked.
Seeing I do have unlimited virtual banking cards, I suppose I could upload a payment card, and just freeze that card. But again, there is no way I'm uploading any image of my physical bank card to any social media site.
And I can imagine that this is where the trend will, go for all the larger networks. I doubt this will ever make it to networks like Mastodon, Nostr, and the countless other decentralised sites anyway (and who have zero revenue to fine anyway).
For the many who end up being harassed online, I'd expect they will be only too happy to not do age verification, as it will mean maybe having more guardrails in place against online harassment. My point being, that younger users are absolutely NOT the only users who need protection and privacy online.
This is a rather short-sighted view of social networks as it really only tackles the Big Tech social networks, and ignores everything else. It is also ignoring the fact that actually most adults also don't want online harassment.
Users should choose their platforms wisely according to their needs, and if parents think platforms are not suitable for their kids, then they should be enforcing that or making their kids aware of the dangers.
As this stands right now, there is zero friction at all to kids just choosing any of the other alternative platforms out there that are way worse when it comes to any protections. Even younger users should just not be on adult social networks at all. It is only parents who can judge how ready their kids are, and what sort of devices to give them to use.
But yes, these laws will just go ahead regardless, and hopefully all the ostriches remember to pull their heads out of the sand, to just breathe once in a while. For the rest of us, we have lost and lost of options, so luckily no-one is ever locked into one single social network.
See
Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK
Bluesky users in the UK can verify their age using their face, ID, or payment card.
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