If you live in the UK you’ve no doubt come across at least one age verification prompt since December last year. That was when the relevant part of the Online Safety Act 2023 came into force. My first encounter with one was on the most surprising places; Bluesky. I could no longer receive or send Direct Messages (DMs) from within the UK, due to this law.
The law’s theory is that if we all provide ID, it confirms the conversation is between adults and not an adult communicating with a child. The law is very broad and the UK regulator is trying to influence every platform that allows direct communication between users, wherever they are in the World, to comply.
For those living in Australia its even worse because of their total Social media ban for under 16s. The implementation is bad, but I do agree with the sentiment that Social Media is bad for younger people. For me it’s just a way to share my blog posts.
So everyone gets around the issue with a VPN, so age verification became required to get a VPN, in the UK. They snuck it in as an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Act, which also required each child to have a unique identifier.. Digital ID by the back door.
Both cases are like using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut, then taking fingerprints off the sledgehammer and the peanut.
Now of course the USA is following suit, with state after state passing or at least drafting equivalent legislation. At the time of writing I believe its nearly half of them so far, something Federal will probably come along at some point I expect.
How does all this relate to your Second Life? Well think about the Bluesky example I mentioned above. What if you replace DM with an SL IM? It’s direct communication. I wonder if Linden Lab have had a letter from OFCOM (Office for Communications, the regularly body in the UK) yet.
The great thing about Second Life is the feeling of Freedom it gives, to be whoever or whatever you want to be. Which is the sales pitch running through the YouTube videos the Lab have been releasing recently. So what happens when Linden Lab are forced to request ID documents from the Second Life resident community?
As I understand it the US 4th Amendment prevents that, but what about the rest of the planet, as similar laws spread like a plague across the Internet?
I don’t look forward to what will happen. Will there be a mass exodus of Residents when the inevitable happens? Retention levels of new Resident signups has been a serious problem already, but will the next generation shrug it off as Age Versification will become the norm for them?