From the press release [my emphasis]:
Require operating system developers like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages when setting up a new device, rather than relying on self-reported ages.
cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/25834609
The U.S. has been quietly building up a set of state-level laws that push operating system providers into the age verification plague.
California’s AB 1043, signed in October 2025, requires OS providers to collect age data at account setup and pipe it to apps through a real-time API. It kicks in on January 1, 2027.
Colorado is working on something nearly identical. SB26-051 (which we covered when it was still a proposal) passed the state Senate 28-7 on March 3, 2026, and is now waiting on a House vote to become law there too.
However, these are just state-level laws. A new federal bill, H.R.8250, introduced on April 13, 2026, by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, with Rep. Elise M. Stefanik signing on as cosponsor, has us intrigued.
All of these sorts of laws are designed to do two things:
Destroy privacy
Destroy Free Software (because inevitable end result will be enforcement via DRM, obviously)
That’s why it’s vitally important to stand united against them, and bootlicking class traitors like Lennart Poettering need to be bitch-slapped into either standing with us or fucking off out of Linux development entirely.
🤝