Comment by Chance-Device
20 hours ago
TLDR: Meta want to push all the age verification requirements onto the OS makers (Apple, Google, everyone else gets caught in the crossfire) so that they don’t have to do anything AND they want it done in such a way that they can use it to profile people to push them targeted ads.
Its like they want to keep being seen as the bad guys.
I think this is also a way of getting ahead of any “ban social media for teens and preteens” bills that might pop up in the US. They do not want repeats of Australia! By adding age verification into the operating system they can deflect responsibility but also respond to legislators with a scalpel rather than getting sledge-hammered.
…Honestly this seems something very likely, more than the other suggestions.
I want age verification but not at the OS level.
> I want age verification
Please feel free to verify your own age with anyone you like. If you mean "I want other people to", then no.
Yes, let me send a picture of my ID to every app on the internet. That's so much better than having the device I own attest to my age anonymously.
What would a world with your preferred age verification system look like?
If age verification has to exist at all, it could look something like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46459959
I also forgot to mention in my original post that the token issuer is not a monopoly. Any company that wants to participate can do so, just like there are many brands of tobacco and alcohol. Require websites to accept at least 5 providers to ensure competition.
To be clear though if it's being used as wedge for privacy violation then it should not exist at all. And from reading TFA preventing that may need a similarly coordinated counter-effort.
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> I want age verification
Why?
Because it's absurd to allow children to simply click "I am 18." Nowhere else works like this.
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I want reverse age verification that lists the ages of every social network post. I think a lot of people that criticize social network toxicity don't realize their interlocutors are half their age. It's not one-to-one, meaning maturity doesn't follow from age, but I think there would be some affordances made in both directions. A younger person would be less surprised that a 60+ yr old would hold certain views. And vice versa.