Poll: Should people have to verify their age to play video games, use social media, and watch adult content?

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Over the past seven days, you might have encountered prompts asking for age confirmation to access specific online content. Age restrictions are a common theme in legal regulations and corporate guidelines, yet these checks apply not only to mature content, but also to various forms of media and services.

On various platforms such as Discord, Reddit, and Xbox, age verification is becoming a common requirement, either now or in the near future. The necessity for this verification varies based on your location, but all these services have implemented some sort of age-check system.

X is currently grappling with its own challenges related to age confirmation, and one approach it employs that doesn’t require facial scans or government IDs is by examining the age of your account.

Due to the implementation of the Online Safety Act in the UK, many websites started incorporating age verification systems. This led to a significant increase in the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

On the previous Friday, there was a staggering 1400% surge in new sign-ups for Proton VPN within an hour. That same day saw Google searches for Proton skyrocket by 100 times.

In the UK’s App Store version, a number of the leading apps are Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Additionally, the app Yoti, which serves as an age verification tool for various well-known websites, also appears on this list.

In simpler terms, Australia recently passed a law restricting social media usage for adolescents under a certain age. This restriction applies to platforms like YouTube, despite YouTube’s claims that it doesn’t qualify as a social media site.

The stance we hold is straightforward: YouTube functions as a video-sharing service, offering a vast collection of top-tier, complimentary videos that are increasingly being watched on television sets. Contrary to popular belief, it does not fall under the category of social media.

It’s quite plausible that additional nations may enact similar regulations in the times ahead, much like several U.S. states that mandate age verification for accessing adult content.

As a passionate enthusiast, I’ve come to learn that it’s not just VPNs being employed to dodge age verification hurdles. In an intriguing twist, some folks have found a clever workaround using the photo mode in the game Death Stranding to circumvent Discord’s k-ID system.

Informally, I’ve heard from multiple sources in the UK that some individuals have managed to circumvent age verification systems by obtaining a standard government ID card online.

As a researcher, I’m intrigued by the persistence of age verification for mature content. I wonder if your opinions on this matter change depending on the platform you’re using. I’m eager to discover if these thoughts are consistent across different platforms or if they shift according to the digital environment.

Our stance hasn’t changed: YouTube serves as a video-sharing hub, offering an extensive collection of free, top-notch videos. More and more people are watching these on their television sets. However, it’s essential to note that YouTube is not a typical social media platform.

YouTube representative, to Reuters

While it’s clear that many individuals support shielding kids from mature material, I’m uncertain if the current approaches effectively achieve this objective.

YouTube doesn’t restrict all children from accessing content. Instead, it prohibits users under the age of 16 from creating accounts. However, if you don’t have an account and browse YouTube, you might encounter more mature content than someone who has created an account and shown interest in child-friendly content.

It appears that the policy is primarily intended to shield YouTube from potential legal issues, as opposed to genuinely safeguarding children from viewing inappropriate content.

It’s worth noting that concerns about privacy and security arise as well, given the number of individuals who use VPNs to access mature content in the UK and those who try to bypass age verification measures when seeking such content.

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2025-08-02 00:09