Stevie Bonifield

News Writer

Age verification is sweeping across online platforms, despite concerns about privacy, security, and censorship.

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Tech

Let me see some ID: age verification is spreading across the internet

Age verification is a reality on a growing number of social media platforms, requiring an ID or facial scan for full access to everything from YouTube to Roblox. The age-gating wave is coming along with calls for stronger child safety measures online, despite concerns about privacy, security, and censorship.&nbsp;
In the US, lawmakers are pushing forward bills like the App Store Accountability Act and Parents Over Platforms Act to have app stores themselves verify users’ ages.&nbsp;
Discord has delayed plans to roll out age verification globally after user backlash until later in 2026, but it hasn’t completely shelved them, even after a breach of a former vendor last year that leaked some users’ scanned IDs. Meanwhile, other platforms, like ChatGPT and Google, are applying AI models to identify and lock down accounts suspected of being underage until some form of identity verification can prove the user is an adult.
Follow along below for the latest updates on age verification for internet services and apps…

Roblox exec says ticking a box for age verification is ‘not enough anymore’

Under-16 social media ban announced by UK government

Apple is going to require developers to say if their app or game includes “social media capabilities.”

Apple is bringing age verification to Texas this week

Instagram is trying to prevent teens from repeatedly seeing certain kinds of content.

Linux devs are fighting the new age-gated internet

Pornhub opens back up to UK users who verify their age on the iPhone.

Facebook and Instagram are using AI bone structure analysis to identify photos of kids

Norway could be the next nation to ban kids from social media.

“We cannot accept a world where every adult is expected to hand over ID.”

US lawmakers call on TikTok to add age verification.

PlayStation’s age-gating restrictions are coming to UK consoles

EU says its “age verification app” is ready to go.

Wisconsin governor says ‘no’ to age checks for porn

Apple’s iOS 26.4 update adds age verification in the UK

GrapheneOS won’t force users to verify their age.

Lawmakers just advanced online safety laws that require age verification at the app store

Apple says the UK age verification prompt was an “error.”

FTC declines to enforce a kids privacy law for data collected to verify users’ ages

Apple says age verification shown to UK users in iOS 26.4 beta was an ‘error’

Apple’s new age verification tools block underage app downloads where required by law

Discord is delaying its global age verification rollout

Discord distances itself from Persona age verification after user backlash

Discord says ‘vast majority’ of users won’t see its new age verification setup

Discord’s age verification mandate is a leap toward a gated internet

Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month

ChatGPT is using age prediction to restrict what minors see

Will you have to show your ID at the app store?

Roblox now requires an age check if you want to chat

Meet the new tech laws of 2026

Judge blocks Texas app store age verification law

Australia boots kids under 16 off social media: how platforms are responding

Welcome to the ‘papers, please’ internet

Here’s how Apple is locking down iPhones to comply with Texas’ age verification law

Bluesky brings age verification to South Dakota and Wyoming

Mastodon can’t comply with Mississippi’s age verification laws.

Steam users in the UK will need a credit card to access ‘mature content’ games

Bluesky blocks Mississippi under new age verification law

Supreme Court opens door to social media age-gating in US

Google is using AI age checks to lock down user accounts

Ready or not, age verification is rolling out across the internet

Microsoft starts rolling out Xbox age verification in the UK

Reddit and Discord’s UK age verification can be defeated by Death Stranding’s photo mode

Roblox will require a facial scan or government ID to have unfiltered chats

The EU is testing a prototype age verification app

Reddit is rolling out age verification in the UK

Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK

Google has open sourced its privacy-focused age verification technology.

The Supreme Court just upended internet law, and I have questions

The EU age verification app will launch in July.

Apple is hitting back in the war over internet age-gating

Utah governor signs the first app store age verification bill into law.

Utah becomes the first state to pass an app store age verification bill

How Meta’s global head of safety approaches online age verification

Child safety bills are reshaping the internet for everyone

Online age verification is coming, and privacy is on the chopping block

Midjourney goes from generating cat images to full-body ultrasound scans

Apple’s weird anti-nausea dots cured my car sickness

Tim Cook says RAM expenses are ‘unsustainable’ and Apple is going to raise prices

This Ghost in the Shell keyboard makes me want to activate the hundred spidery robot fingers inside my regular fingers

Amazon employees say they’re facing termination for backing data center limits

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