I was there for the birth of the internet for everyone, sadly I'll be here for its death as well

These laws are stupid. If you want to protect kids, you should focus on getting parents the tools they need to lock down their kids' devices however they see fit.

I don't understand how anyone thinks any part of this is going to work out.

• The vast majority of machines online are fully automated, how do you validate the age of an automated account? If automated accounts are allowed without verification, how can you possibly tell the difference between them and an actual person?
• How do you handle old and foreign software? Are they going to start prosecuting individual people for running non-compliant software? Can't afford to update your old phone? Well now you're a criminal.
• Validating age requires private information to identify who you are. They have completely put the security of this information on each individual OS. Expect this info to be leaked.

This will never keep someone from viewing something if they really want to. All it will do is open up individuals to prosecution if they want to use any device anonymously.

Papers, please, comrade.

They are trying to contain free and open source operating systems of all kind and as a bonus they get to stop people from using PCs and other devices anonymously.

The future is going to be workhouses.

These types of laws seem to be popping up around the US. How long until this plague spreads to other countries?

There was a post on r/linux and OP said there were lobbyists for this bill, and Meta was one of them.

If they require authentication with some identity checking company, that's really bad

It already did for a few years. The US wasn't the vanguard of it.

Is this to keep gramps from doomscrolling

Age verification, which is a public way to say "Identity verification", is absolutely stupid, and does absolutely nothing but making everything worse. And even if identity verification is somewhat understandable for web services, it should not apply to the locally used software, especially foss one, which is by definition available to everyone.

It's like Christmas for identity thieves

Why should a minor not use a OS. An empty OS does contain nothing 18+. Think about it.

The Us governments are filled with pedophiles trying to target kids.

If you live in a US state where a bill like this is being proposed, please contact your state legislators and urge them to oppose it. Might not move the needle, but trying is better than doing nothing.

Wait until the dumb fucks discovers the embedded OSes

I get the impression that Darknets are going to start popping up everywhere.