California’s AB 1709 should worry anyone who cares about privacy, free speech, and the future of the open internet.
The bill would block users under 16 from social media platforms and push age verification into the centre of online life. EFF warns this could mean ordinary users being forced towards government ID, biometric checks, or other identity systems just to access the modern public square.
That is not safety. That is identity gating.
Child safety matters. But the answer should be education, parental tools, platform accountability, and healthier digital design, not mass verification systems that weaken anonymity and create new privacy risks.
Should the state decide who gets to speak online?
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/act-now-stop-californias-paternalistic-and-privacy-destroying-social-media-ban
#Privacy #FreeSpeech #DigitalRights #AgeVerification #OnlineSafety #Decentralisation #SelfSovereignty
beitmenotyou1 / Michael J Burgess
npub123…58dpt
2026-05-06 17:05:10 UTC
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wss://relay.nos.socialPublished at
2026-05-06 17:05:10 UTCEvent JSON
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