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Oh No! Now A Federal Bill Wants OS-Level Age Verification for Everyone in the USA (itsfoss.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by pglpm@lemmy.ca to c/linux@programming.dev

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From the press release [my emphasis]:

Require operating system developers like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages when setting up a new device, rather than relying on self-reported ages.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/25834609

The U.S. has been quietly building up a set of state-level laws that push operating system providers into the age verification plague.

California's AB 1043, signed in October 2025, requires OS providers to collect age data at account setup and pipe it to apps through a real-time API. It kicks in on January 1, 2027.

Colorado is working on something nearly identical. SB26-051 (which we covered when it was still a proposal) passed the state Senate 28-7 on March 3, 2026, and is now waiting on a House vote to become law there too.

However, these are just state-level laws. A new federal bill, H.R.8250, introduced on April 13, 2026, by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, with Rep. Elise M. Stefanik signing on as cosponsor, has us intrigued.

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[–] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

To take the voice of the other side

Age verification is a thing that's becoming more important

It's expensive for all the companies if they have to do age verification, apple and Microsoft are huge so they can easily absorb the cost, so if we make those companies do it, it takes the load off the other companies

It's not that they're open source hostile, it's that they're open source blind. I think they're also using corporate versions of windows so they don't get the worst of it, so they're not incentivised to find alternatives

Linux is going to have a lot of trouble funding ID checks in the handful of jurisdictions where it's necessary

I wonder if Linux should be presented as business software (since most Linux installations are servers) that should not be bound by that law, what does a server care about the age of the worker who set it up or the company that owns it

[–] pglpm@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

The fundamental problem is that age verification is bullshit. So let's not normalize it. It must be fought, on all fronts, including the FOSS front.