@jonah I will love to debate. And accept your offer. Strap in this will be long. Sorry about that! Would love to hear your well thought out response to these!
[“Why I am in favor for age verification.”]
Age Verification and Online Privacy: A Call for Balanced Debate
While discussing this, we must remember that children in America don’t have the same rights as adults. Until they turn 18, they’re under their parents’ control. Parents decide what their kids see, hear, and how they behave. Kids must also follow laws designed just for them. Full freedom from parental oversight comes only when you turn 18 and move out. Plus, certain laws, like the drinking age of 21, apply until you reach that age.
1. Opinion: Age Verification Doesn’t Mean Losing Privacy or Free Speech
The presence of an age verification system doesn’t mean you have to give up your privacy or free speech for every service you use. As an adult, you can choose not to verify your age—that’s your right. You can pick your device, the websites you visit, or opt out entirely, like not using the service online, move to less online tech like talking in person, using a flip phone or traditional mail. Some folks argue society relies only on the internet for freedom, but I disagree. Life doesn’t have to revolve around the internet.
Historical Activism
Many activists advocate openly, not anonymously, with conviction. Figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks stood proudly behind their beliefs, facing free speech challenges without backing down. Their visible leadership inspired change through dedication to justice.
User Choice and Privacy
Online privacy differs from physical privacy. If you share data online or use services that collect it, you’re responsible for those choices and aware of the risks. Privacy is a right, but it shouldn’t harm others’ safety. You decide how to share your information, and if you use data-collecting services, that’s your call. Support platforms like Proton or Tuta, which use end-to-end encryption, instead of Google or Meta. Choose with your wallet and morals to encourage more privacy-respecting services. The same applies to age verification—it’s about balancing choice with responsibility.
Building on this idea of user choice, let’s consider how the internet’s open nature shapes our expectations of privacy.
2. Opinion: Anonymity Isn’t a Right Online
The internet was designed to be open, like a library [1], for sharing knowledge (e.g., books, news, archives). We have a right to privacy in our devices and shared information, but I believe there’s no inherent right to anonymity online. Offline, anonymity might be a right, but not on the web. (That is why there TOS etc) An open web can’t function if people hide their actions to harm others. Just as you can’t disrupt a public library, you shouldn’t disrupt public platforms like social media. If you can’t act that way in real-world public spaces without consequences, why should the internet be different?
A video on SomeOrdinaryGamers’ channel (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr-xsHjdhuI) makes a compelling case for anonymity for TOR in the beginning of his video, especially for vulnerable users like journalism, dissidents. This suggests anonymity has value in specific cases (TOR communications).
This balance between openness and responsibility ties into why we have privacy policies and terms of service for the websites we visit and use.
3. Opinion: Privacy Policies and Terms of Service Exist for a Reason
We choose to share data, buy, and use online services voluntarily. We may have near-perfect privacy at home, but the internet is an open web, like public sidewalks. Regulation, like age verification, has been needed for years. The genie’s out of the bottle, and it’s not going back. Companies should face penalties for changing privacy policies or terms without notifying users. But if you agreed to those terms initially, you consented to their practices. To avoid this, you could ditch privacy-invasive devices or the internet, but by using the web, which relies on data collection, you exercise your privacy rights through your choices.
Since user choice is central, let’s explore how privacy advocates can shape age verification solutions.
4. Opinion: Privacy Activists Should Push for an Open Standard
I hope privacy activists work on solutions, like an open standard—a publicly available framework—for age verification to improve privacy outcomes. Without our input, we won’t get better solutions. Perfect privacy isn’t possible, but we must compromise to respect others’ rights, balancing privacy with safety. We already have laws restricting kids’ access to adult content in physical spaces, requiring ID, and prohibiting adults from exposing kids to illegal content. People aren’t considered mature until age 18, per the law, so similar rules make sense online.
This need for balance extends to how we interact with the internet’s structure and services.
5. Opinion: The Internet’s Structure and User Choice
You choose the sites and services you use. If you pick an Apple device, you agree to their terms, including privacy policies. You know how corporations like Apple, Google, or Microsoft work. By using their services, you trade some privacy for access, unlike with Linux, where you keep more control. Still, you decide which websites to visit and what information to share. This is the core of privacy as a right.
End-to-end encryption keeps personal data, like photos, private. I believe these should stay private, as they store valuable personal data (though age verification may still apply, as some platforms do more than intended):
- Emails
- Messages [2]
- Cloud drives
- Healthcare
In contrast, these are public platforms for social engagement and shouldn’t be considered private:
- Blogs/forums
- Social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Mastodon)
- User-uploaded sharing sites
- Stranger chatting sites
Balancing privacy and safety leads to the need for compromise in age verification.
6. Opinion: Age Verification Requires Compromise
Some politicians, countries, or companies may misuse age verification. Even good companies today could turn bad tomorrow. But if a solution can protect kids, we should explore it and aim for a balanced outcome that satisfies most, even if not all. Compromise is key in life—like adjusting diets when egg prices rise or saving water during a drought. If we don’t compromise for others’ benefit, we risk selfishness, which can be good or bad depending on the context.
This idea of compromise also applies to how we approach activism.
7. Opinion: Activism Doesn’t Need the Internet
Not all activism or safety measures require the internet. Paper remains an option for some activities. The internet is new compared to how activism thrived historically. Figures like Gandhi or King didn’t need anonymity to make their points. The internet spreads awareness fast, but it makes issues public. Activism doesn’t have to be only online.
The need for practical solutions brings us to the risks of ignoring age verification challenges.
8. Opinion: Inaction on Age Verification Risks Open-Source Platforms
Without an open standard for age verification, device-level laws could force Apple, Google, or Microsoft to create universal APIs, worsening their monopoly. A bigger worry is custom ROMs. Without an open standard, they could face bans for not complying with age verification laws. Privacy advocates should develop an open-source alternative to keep custom ROMs viable under varying state laws. Inconsistent state regulations create compliance issues, as seen with Kaspersky’s U.S. ban.
This need to protect vulnerable platforms connects to supporting vulnerable parents.
9. Opinion: Age Verification Isn’t Just a Parenting Issue
Some say age verification is only a parenting issue, but this ignores single, deaf, disabled, visually impaired, or financially strained parents. These parents deserve equal chances to keep their kids safe online. Any parent knows shielding kids from external influences is tough, especially for those with disabilities.
TL;DR
I accept the trade-offs of age verification and support privacy-preserving methods like zero-knowledge proofs, which verify age without revealing personal data. But inconsistent state laws will complicate compliance for developers and confuse users about privacy rights across state lines. Without a consistent framework, open-source platforms like Linux or custom Android ROMs risk restrictions, as seen with Kaspersky’s U.S. ban. A balanced, standardized solution is essential.
Studies on Age verification. Porn exposure. Parental support for age verification etc.
Here are studies for everyone to read and digest themselves and make up their own opinions.
https://www.scitepress.org/Papers/2025/132483/132483.pdf
Child and Youth Safety Online | United Nations
https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/childhood-digital-world
https://www.complycube.com/en/online-safety-act-2023-vs-eu-dsa-what-you-need-to-know/
Studies on Parents with disabilities:
https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article/55/3/1436/7934198
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14733250241307263
https://rm.coe.int/two-clicks-forward-and-one-click-back-report-on-children-with-disabili/168098bd0f
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4672&context=uop_etds
More Studies on Parents with disabilities:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2024.2439977#d1e135
https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10156136
https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10522061
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638288.2024.2443566
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0264619620941895
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