Starting July 25, the U.K.'s Online Safety Act will require websites such as Reddit and Bluesky to implement stringent age verification procedures. Users will need to verify their age through official ID, bank details, or selfies analyzed by software. The act aims to shield underage users from adult content and follows a recent Supreme Court ruling in Texas demanding personal information for access to pornographic sites. Experts express concerns that this may lead to broader regulations affecting various online platforms, marking a significant shift toward stricter internet regulations.
The act mandates that platforms implement "highly effective" age verification measures to prevent underage users from accessing inappropriate content-whether that's pornography, violent material, or other age-inappropriate content.
This shift towards a more ID-locked web is one of the biggest, messiest evolutions we've seen online in years, says Navarra.
The era of the anonymous internet died a long time ago, but pseudonymity remains, and we are watching the death flows of the free internet, says Myles Jackman.
ID-based systems could backfire and risk exposing users-especially marginalized groups-to privacy violations.
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