[ExI] Internet age verification spreads worldwide

[BillK]

As online age checks become more common, critics worry about losing
internet freedom
Associated Press / Aug 28, 2025

A growing number of tech companies are implementing age checks to
comply with regulations or ward off criticism that they are not
protecting children.

<https://www.fastcompany.com/91394711/online-age-checks-losing-internet-freedom>
Quotes:
Online age checks are on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere, asking
people for IDs or face scans to prove they are over 18 or 21 or even
13. To proponents, they’re a tool to keep children away from adult
websites and other material that might be harmful to them.

But opponents see a worrisome trend toward a less secure, less
private, and less free internet, where people can be denied access not
just to pornography but news, health information, and the ability to
speak openly and anonymously.

More than 20 states have passed some kind of age verification law,
though many face legal challenges. While no such law exists on the
federal level in the United States, the Supreme Court recently allowed
a Mississippi age check law for social media to stand. In June, the
court upheld a Texas law aimed at preventing minors from watching
pornography online, ruling that adults don’t have a First Amendment
right to access obscene speech without first proving their age.
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At present, it seems to be online social media that these laws apply to.

BillK