They all wanted it, but they knew it would be unpopular, so they needed a law to force everyone to do it. Meta stepped up. They get the data, the politicians get the blame--and a payout. The pols continue to spin it as protecting the children but no one is buying it. No one expects it to have any positive effect on children’s use of social media, but that was never the point in the first place.
It’s not exactly what happened though. Meta aren’t being forced to do age verification. They were the primary lobbyists for it in the first place.
They all wanted it, but they knew it would be unpopular, so they needed a law to force everyone to do it. Meta stepped up. They get the data, the politicians get the blame--and a payout. The pols continue to spin it as protecting the children but no one is buying it. No one expects it to have any positive effect on children’s use of social media, but that was never the point in the first place.