Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

9 hours ago

Age verification policies for social media are spreading globally under the guise of protecting children, but they often function as identity verification, eroding online anonymity and privacy.
Mandatory identity verification threatens freedom of expression by enabling surveillance, creating a chilling effect, and allowing authorities to track and punish dissenting voices.
Countries like Australia, Brazil, and the UK have implemented or proposed age restrictions, with discussions extending to VPNs, app stores, and operating system-level controls to enforce compliance.
The EU has introduced an age verification app marketed as privacy-focused, but it lacks robust Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology, meaning states can still trace credentials back to users.
ZKP technology could offer more privacy by decoupling credentials from identities, but it remains optional and reversible, with risks of excluding those without ID or enabling states to revoke access.
Expanding controls to VPNs, open-source systems, and state-mandated devices suggests a slippery slope toward a government-controlled internet, mirroring authoritarian surveillance states.
Age verification is criticized as a pretext for mass surveillance and censorship, leveraging child safety narratives to justify invasive measures that undermine democratic freedoms.

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