Do Not Turn Child Protection into Internet Access Control

3 hours ago

Age verification is expanding beyond adult websites to social media, gaming, and other mainstream services globally.
Age verification is shifting the internet from open access to permissioned access, requiring users to prove something about themselves before accessing services.
Proposals suggest integrating age verification at the operating system level, making it a persistent feature rather than a one-off check.
Content moderation and guardianship are distinct; the former is technical, while the latter is relational and local, involving parents and educators.
Age-verification laws centralize child protection, undermining the role of parents and local communities in making contextual decisions.
Age verification is easily bypassed (VPNs, fake credentials) and imposes high costs on privacy and accessibility.
The proposed solutions fail to address core issues like manipulative recommendation systems and addictive platform designs.
A better approach involves moderating content at the endpoint (browser, device) and empowering local guardianship rather than implementing a universal permission system.
The internet should not become a checkpoint; regulation should target harmful business practices rather than enforcing broad identity checks.

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