EU Pushes Mandatory Age Verification; Open-Source Projects Stall Compliance Between Legal Mandates and Technical Roadblocks

There's a lot of talk of online #ageverification systems these days. @pluralistic describes how doing so in a way that preserves #privacy is bullshit and technically impossible. https://doctorow.medium.com/privacy-preserving-age-verification-is-bullshit-0aefd53019e0

I just had a good phone conversation with a staffer at Massachusetts Senator Pat Jehlen's office, and she affirmed that all the advocacy against age verification is being heard. #Massachusetts residents, if you have bandwidth, please keep pushing on this. You can look up your state senator here: malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator #MAPol #MAPoli #surveillance #privacy #AgeVerification

The EU digital age verification app. Statement: ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_26_817 The technology (opensource): ageverification.dev/av-doc-technical-specification/docs/architecture-and-technical-specifications/ #EU #Digital #ageverificationapp #opensource #foss

Age verification billls like the Massachusetts House just passed functionally outlaw broad swaths of communication platforms that have been designed to protect user privacy. That's bad in itself, but it also has the side effect of effectively making independent social media platforms like Mastodon illegal. #IndiWeb #SocialMedia #Mastodon #MaPol #privacy

‘No more excuses’: Von der Leyen says #EU age checking app is ready https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-says-age-verification-app-is-technically-ready/ #AgeVerification #Europe #privacy

TL;DR: Despite warnings from 438 experts about the dangers of age verification, legislators are pressing ahead with its implementation, raising concerns about potential risks and implications. https://abovethelaw.com/2026/04/438-experts-said-age-verification-is-dangerous-legislators-are-moving-forward-with-it-anyway/ #law #tech #legaltech ⚖️ 🤖 #autosum

EU age verification tech is ready, von der Leyen says https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-says-age-verification-app-is-technically-ready/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication #CybersecurityandDataProtection #DigitalServicesAct #Contentmoderation #Dataprotection #Mentalhealth #Enforcement #SocialMedia #Technology #Platforms #Privacy #Media #Youth

Von der Leyen says EU age checking app is ready – POLITICO “We are holding online platforms accountable that do not protect enough our kids. The new age verification solution… #NewsBeep #News #Mobile #Contentmoderation #cyprus #Dataprotection #denmark #DigitalServicesAct #Enforcement #France #Greece #HennaVirkkunen #Ireland #Italy #Media #Mentalhealth #Platforms #Privacy #SocialMedia #Spain #Technology #UK #UnitedKingdom #UrsulavonderLeyen #Youth https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/532422/

#askfedi 🛂 Is there a list of distros refusing to comply with age verification/attestation laws? #ageverification #systemd #privacy #opensource

Not debating whether the law is wrong or not. - Projects that will refuse any age verification/attestation. - Projects that'll preemptively comply using some simplistic age bracket eval. - Projects that are still deciding what to do. #ageverification #privacy #regulation #linux #opensource