EFF, Ubuntu and Other Distros Discuss How to Respond to Age-Verification Laws (9to5linux.com)
- Reference: 0180931882
- News link: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/26/03/09/0544224/eff-ubuntu-and-other-distros-discuss-how-to-respond-to-age-verification-laws
- Source link: https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-fedora-linux-mint-eye-age-verification-amid-california-law-backlash
> Earlier this week, Ubuntu developer Aaron Rainbolt proposed [2]on the Ubuntu mailing list an optional D-Bus interface (org.freedesktop.AgeVerification1) that can be implemented by arbitrary applications as a distro sees fit, but Canonical [3]responded that the company does not yet have a solution to announce for age declaration in Ubuntu. "Canonical is aware of the legislation and is reviewing it internally with legal counsel, but there are currently no concrete plans on how, or even whether, Ubuntu will change in response," said Jon Seager, VP Engineering at Canonical. "The recent mailing list post is an informal conversation among Ubuntu community members, not an announcement. While the discussion contains potentially useful ideas, none have been adopted or committed to by Canonical."
>
> Similar talks are underway [4]in the Fedora and [5]Linux Mint communities about this issue in case the California Digital Age Assurance Act law and similar laws from other states and countries are to be enforced. At the same time, other OS developers, like MidnightBSD, have decided to exclude California from desktop use entirely.
Slashdot contacted Hayley Tsukayama, Director of State Affairs at EFF, who says their organization "has long warned against age-gating the internet. Such mandates strike at the foundation of the free and open internet."
And there's another problem. "Many of these mandates imagine technology that does not currently exist."
> Such poorly thought-out mandates, in truth, cannot achieve the purported goal of age verification. Often, they are easy to circumvent and many also expose consumers to real data breach risk.
>
> These burdens fall particularly heavily on developers who aren't at large, well-resourced companies, such as those developing open-source software. Not recognizing the diversity of software development when thinking about liability in these proposals effectively limits software choices — and at a time when computational power is being rapidly concentrated in the hands of the few. That harms users' and developers' right to free expression, their digital liberties, privacy, and ability to create and use open platforms...
>
> Rather than creating age gates, a [6]well-crafted privacy law that empowers all of us — young people and adults alike — to control how our data is collected and used would be a crucial step in the right direction.
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/06/1851235/system76-comments-on-recent-age-verification-laws
[2] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2026-March/043510.html
[3] https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntus-response-to-californias-digital-age-assurance-act-ab-1043/77948
[4] https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/california-age-verification/181968
[5] https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=464675
[6] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/your-states-child-safety-law-unconstitutional-try-comprehensive-data-privacy
Think of the children! (Score:3)
Think of the children! Well, as we know from the Epstein files, each and every one in our leadership does think about children a lot. I'm not sure we should trust ours to them, though, legislatively, or literally for that matter.
Re: (Score:1)
Hey, look, a squirrel!
Western countries are run by people who like to rape children. Sometimes they also take time off to e.g. starve half a million Iraqi children to death, and call it "worth it" back in '96. These people belong behind bars. These people have no right to say anything about children anywhere, they have no right to concern themselves with children anywhere, and they have no right to exist in any other way but as the locked-up disgraced pedophiles they should be.
Because what kind of a new reg
Re: (Score:2)
for the emperor(s)!!
Don't standardise! (Score:3)
This is one time I think every distro should do it a totally different way.
Consulting companies (Score:1)
This is a money making scheme dreamt up by companies that want to get paid for implementing this on websites. It's the same GDPR fraud all over again.
I've lost the plot on these laws (Score:2)
What is the purpose of these laws again? Has it been definitly proven that social media is bad for kids?
I don't belive it has, there have been studies suggesting it is bad, and other studies that find very little effect. Personally I don't think there's enough evidence to make a conculsion but I do know that passing laws based on moral panics is a very bad thing, and that appears to be what's going on. Also it's very obvious the laws aren't just about keeping kids healthy but also about surveillance, contro
Re: (Score:3)
They are the first step toward a slippery slope toward a ban on anonymity.
Re: (Score:2)
> They are the first step toward a slippery slope toward a ban on anonymity.
It's much more than a slippery slope. It's an intentional trap. Politicians have been trying to remove anonymity from the Internet from basically the time their kids first told them about it. Nothing has been more consistent than these constant attempts, usually under the typical "protect the chiiiiildren" guise.
Mind you, the same type of people crying "protect the children" are the type of people who visited Epstein island.
Re: (Score:2)
I agree, saying social media is bad for kids is oversimplifying. Social media is bad for everyone.
Re: (Score:2)
> What is the purpose of these laws again? Has it been definitly proven that social media is bad for kids?
> I don't belive it has, there have been studies suggesting it is bad, and other studies that find very little effect. Personally I don't think there's enough evidence to make a conculsion but I do know that passing laws based on moral panics is a very bad thing, and that appears to be what's going on. Also it's very obvious the laws aren't just about keeping kids healthy but also about surveillance, control and monetization of adults.
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/co... [theguardian.com]
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/23/15-year-old-girl-misogyny-social-media-online-abuse
Digital dimwitts trying to do digital law. (Score:2)
Been there, done that. EU citizen here. Duh.
It's always hilarious and/or super-annoying when people who don't have the faintest idea on how computers or digital networks work attempt to make laws to regulate these. We have this problem in the EU and in Germany quite a bit. Accidental throught-crime laws, laws that factually prohibit reading or consuming media you own, that collide with fundamental constitutional rights etc. without the lawmakers even noticing.
By and large it does get better though. The EU G
Law of unintended consequences (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't build the OS installer or images in California and ensure that the pipelines are sufficiently distributed to counter any brain damaged legislation elsewhere in future. And make a big song and dance about how California used to be the home of Linux but is no longer because of stupid unenforceable laws.
Re: (Score:2)
Just unplug the Ethernet cable. Systemd will get confused and the system will just hang, therefore barring access to minors to this dangerous munition called a personal computer.
Non-perfect solutions are fine (Score:2)
There is this obsession that a technical solution is either perfect or useless with nothing in between.
The problem for open source software is that I am legally allowed by copyright law + GPL license to modify the code implementing this. But there may be other laws. âoeAny software must either make a good effort to verify the age, or reply that the age cannot be verified. âoe.
why waste time & energy (Score:2)
on a retarded law in one part of the USA?
Re: (Score:2)
Because that "one part of the USA" is [1]the 4th largest economy in the world [ca.gov]. Or the 5th or so depending on which statistics from which year you prefer, the point being: It's too large to ignore. Even it it's just a part of something else.
[1] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/04/23/california-is-now-the-4th-largest-economy-in-the-world/
CA (Score:2)
Somehow, nowadays all the bad stuff seems to come from California, or Washington..
Age verification is supported by ACME VPM (Score:1)
Who for 4-99 a month will make it look like you are visiting the interwebs from a non verification country Ha Ha!!