California moves to exempt Linux from its age-verification law after backlash

Re:California moves to exempt Linux from its age-verificatio... by soraminazuki on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @09:06AM (#48279296)

And how exactly do you validate your age? Government-issued IDs. Attaching government-issued IDs to every digital activity is the surveillance apparatus's wet dream, and it's not like these motives are hidden. So between this and equating opponents of this policy with cryptobros in your other comment, I have a hard time believing your accusation of bad faith as anything other than good old DARVO.

It's also the tired old argument that's constantly raised by encryption ban/backdoor proponents too. How many times do they have to be debunked, ugh.

If you're against the EFF on these kind of issues, it's typically a good time to reevaluate your position.

https://www.eff.org/issues/age-verification

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:California moves to exempt Linux from its age-verificatio... by tardedmeme on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @05:58PM (#48286581)

... You don't. Did you actually read the law you're complaining about? It says the OS shall ask the person who creates an account what is the age bracket for that account. No verification is required. In fact the same law makes it illegal to verify this.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:California moves to exempt Linux from its age-verificatio... by soraminazuki on Wednesday May 27, 2026 @08:24AM (#48293191)

Even if true, that's an obvious farce. There's zero chance that these people will be satisfied at just asking for personal information and not checking. Next time, the rhetoric will be "we've already agreed to mandate age verification, why aren't we actually verifying?"

Furthermore, age verification is being pushed at multiple jurisdictions across the globe. They're trying multiple approaches to get this through and seeing what sticks.

[ Parent | on HN ]