So Meta (and their allies) are actively pushing and lobbying (illegally, if you look at DCA that doesn’t even exist?) for laws that force operating systems to build a permanent age API thats full time accessible for apps?
Why not use a digital identity wallet like Europe : You can prove that you are 18+ without sharing your date of birth, name, or other information (via zero-knowledge proofs), it’s like a confirmation paper from a bank or another institution without any actual information about yourself. Plus there’s parental consent to children’s accounts (as COPPA in the U.S. already does), or like by doing verification locally or through open-source systems, not through commercial companies with a central Database.
They knowingly ignore better, more privacy friendly alternatives to age verification because by forcing operating systems to implement a permanent age API, they create a system that burdens competitors like Apple and Google and Free and Open Source software who sometimes cant even abide to those rules, all-the-while meta’s own platforms are often excluded. Apparently this fits into a broader strategy to normalize surveillance and increase dependence on commercial verification companies, which Meta indirectly benefits from.
I dont really see this changing, I expect meta getting away with everything and getting worse cause look at the inauguration. But musk also got booted so who knows. But in the end America usually doesnt care about customer rights, privacy rights, or childrens rights ig.
Im awaiting the results of the latest lawsuit where zuckerberg had to testify about accusations that social media, including Instagram, harm children’s mental health. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/19/tech/takeaways-mark-zuckerberg-testifiessocial-media-child-mental-health
Yeah we should deffo support privacy watchdogs who lobby for us(customer rights, consumer rights, privacy rights etc) and advice the government and when its election time, check who’s the nerd vote