The ‘Papers, Please’ Internet Is Here
▼ Summary
– The UK’s 2018 “porn pass” proposal for adult website age verification was abandoned in 2019 but has since been revived with broader mandates in the UK, EU, Australia, and the US.
– Critics’ privacy and free speech concerns have been largely disregarded as age verification laws gain political traction globally, with growing skepticism about the internet’s value.
– Early implementations in the UK revealed problems like security risks from multiple verification services, easy circumvention methods, and smaller sites blocking content or leaving the country.
– The US Supreme Court has temporarily allowed social media age verification laws, but smaller services like Bluesky are struggling to comply and blocking users in some states.
– Companies are lobbying to shift verification responsibilities, while platforms like Roblox and YouTube are independently implementing age checks, often requiring ID uploads if automated analysis fails.
The global push for mandatory online age verification is rapidly reshaping the internet, moving us toward a “papers, please” digital environment where anonymity becomes a relic of the past. What began as a seemingly impractical UK proposal for physical “porn passes” in 2018 has evolved into sweeping legislation requiring age checks across social media platforms and adult content sites worldwide. Regulatory momentum has accelerated dramatically, with the European Union and Australia implementing trial programs while the United States Supreme Court recently overturned longstanding precedent to permit age verification requirements.
Early implementations are revealing significant practical challenges and unintended consequences. The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act rollout demonstrated multiple systemic flaws, including fragmented verification services that each create new security vulnerabilities, easily exploited loopholes through features like video game photo modes, and widespread VPN adoption that has prompted discussions about potential bans. Smaller platforms face disproportionate burdens, with some social networks choosing to block entire regions rather than comply with complex tracking requirements. While no major data breach has yet occurred specifically within verification systems, recent incidents involving Discord and dating app Tea have exposed tens of thousands of government IDs, highlighting the catastrophic privacy risks of centralized identity databases.
The philosophical underpinnings of these verification regimes reflect growing societal skepticism about the internet’s value. Critics’ long-standing warnings about restricted access to educational resources and chilled speech for adults appear to be materializing, yet these concerns are increasingly overshadowed by bipartisan sentiment questioning whether the digital sphere offers anything worth protecting. The benefits of age-gating remain largely theoretical and long-term, while the costs, privacy erosion, implementation burdens, and access restrictions, are immediate and measurable.
Political dynamics continue to shape verification policies across jurisdictions. The UK’s Online Safety Act has become a contentious political issue, with Reform UK promising repeal over free speech concerns while the governing party defends it as essential child protection. In the United States, social media verification faces an uncertain future despite the Supreme Court allowing Mississippi’s law to proceed temporarily, with justices suggesting such requirements likely violate constitutional principles. Technology giants are meanwhile engaged in lobbying battles over whether app stores or individual platforms should bear verification responsibilities.
Platforms themselves are increasingly implementing proprietary age estimation systems, often using behavioral analysis and account metadata rather than immediate ID requirements. However, these systems frequently default to government document verification when their algorithms fail, creating the same privacy risks through different means. This trend toward corporate-led verification may prove more enduring than legislation, as companies like YouTube and Roblox expand these systems independently of government mandates.
International precedents offer cautionary tales about verification regimes. South Korea’s early adoption of real-name requirements faced repeated legal challenges and modifications due to practical implementation problems and speech concerns, while China’s extensive youth internet controls form part of a broader surveillance apparatus. Many proposed child safety measures that don’t explicitly mandate verification nevertheless function as backdoor age gates by requiring platforms to distinguish between minor and adult users.
Alternative approaches exist that could address genuine harms without sacrificing digital anonymity. These include increased funding for agencies investigating online child exploitation, legislation targeting specific harmful practices like invasive advertising, and comprehensive privacy frameworks that protect all users regardless of age. The current verification frenzy often overlooks these nuanced solutions in favor of blanket approaches that may ultimately prove both ineffective and destructive to the open internet.
(Source: The Verge)
