Just regulate the social media megacorps, not the access to them. I don't wanna present by papers at every military security checkpoint on my internets.
this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026
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nothing a social media ban for <13 years old kids can't solve, am I right?
There's a reason why Meta is lobbying for age verification. They need it to be compliant with the law, without the accountability that goes with it.
What they need is an absolutely gigantic non-negotiable fine.
I don't think it's just about accountability, I think it's also about being able to charge advertisers more for verified-human eyeballs.
Multiple non-negotiate fines from multiple different groups in different lawsuits
The annoying thing is, meta already knows a bunch of its users are minors, but it refuses to act on that information. It's like they're waiting until they can impose universal surveillance on everyone before it bothers doing anything.
Never mind that many things (like self-harm content on Instagram) should be banned regardless of the viewer's age, and that plenty of this regulation should be left up to parents anyway
10% of yearly profit per day of non-compliance.
Profit is far too easy to manipulate. A percentage of gross revenue would really sting.
Which is what these EU laws usually do. This one is up to 6% of world wide revenue. Actually collecting those fines is another story though.
Should be easy if they have balls.
"You are no longer able to operate within our borders until the fine is paid and you have resolved the issue".
Honestly they're going to push for these age limits and I don't even specifically disagree with some websites being not for under X, but verifying with some company's website and sending them your info sounds awful. I'd much rather use my country's existing id verification and use that to verify my age with the EU's age thing and use that for the websites.
I dont understand why people are even considering staying on those platforms. What are you even doing? Cant live without them? How sad is that actually. And I mean that. It really is very sad that humans now think they need these platforms.
I think it's nice to know what my relatives are doing and what's happening in the community around me. That's why I use Facebook. I'd be fine with them knowing my age tbh.
Exactly! The EU digital wallet spec is perfect for this: It allows for granular info like “is this person older than X years”, which is exactly what we want here! Not what Meta wants, obviously, but fuck them.
They will be fined €10 per year until this is resolved.
/$
Thats like double their taxes in the whole EU! How could you!?
From the linked press release:
For example, when creating an account, minors below 13 can enter a false birth date that makes them at least 13 years old, with no effective controls in place to check the correctness of the self-declared date of birth.
Meta's tool for reporting minors under 13 on the platform is difficult to use and not effective, requiring up to seven clicks just to access the reporting form, which is not automatically pre-filled with the user's information. Even when a minor under 13 is reported for being under the age threshold, there often is no proper follow-up, and the reported minor can simply continue to use the service without any type of check.