this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2025
691 points (99.4% liked)

Technology

74901 readers
2775 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
technopagan@lemmy.world
L4s@lemmy.world
L3s@hackingne.ws
L4s@hackingne.ws
691
Age Verification Is A Windfall for Big Tech—And A Death Sentence For Smaller Platforms (www.eff.org)
submitted 2 days ago by technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
98 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

This consolidation of power is a dream come true for the Big Tech platforms, but it’s a nightmare for users. While the megacorporations get more traffic and a whole lot more user data (read: profit), users are left with far fewer community options and a bland, corporate surveillance machine instead of a vibrant public sphere. The internet we all fell in love with is a diverse and colorful place, full of innovation, connection, and unique opportunities for self-expression. That internet—our internet—is worth defending.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] underline960@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

users are left with far fewer community options

Where is the fediverse in this analysis?

Edit: The article references Bluesky fleeing Mississippi due to risk of fines. Do admins running fediverse instances run similar risks?

Bluesky was the first platform to make the announcement. In a public blogpost, Bluesky condemned H.B. 1126’s broad scope, barriers to innovation, and privacy implications, explaining that the law forces platforms to “make every Mississippi Bluesky user hand over sensitive personal information and undergo age checks to access the site—or risk massive fines.” As Bluesky noted, “This dynamic entrenches existing big tech platforms while stifling the innovation and competition that benefits users.” Instead, Bluesky made the decision to cut off Mississippians entirely until the courts consider whether to overturn the law.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 day ago

Just goes to show that blue sky isn't as decentralized as they would like you to think they are.

[–] Twipped@l.twipped.social 1 points 6 hours ago

Eugen issued a statement that Mastodon is physically incapable of implementing age verification and that thedecentralized nature of the fediverse means there is no central authority that can block regions which define these laws.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws/

IANAL, but I imagine under the laws, they would go after individual instance owners to mandate verification. The laws have no provision for third party software, so it would fall to the courts, but most instances don’t have the funds to fight it.