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And how well has this worked in practice? How would you even identify violations, if you're not requiring websites to store the user's real-world identity?

Large websites do not care even the slightest bit about how accurate the verification method is. They have zero incentive to genuinely get rid of underage users. If anything, they want to keep them - they are prime advertising real estate! Websites have every incentive to implement the age check in the cheapest and most half-baked way possible. As long as they are able to prove on paper that they are doing some form of age verification, they have met their requirements. Got a 90% false positive rate? Working as intended!

The only people getting fines are the small websites who can't afford to pay a 3rd party verification service. This'll shut down your local hobbyist communities, which only drives more visitors to the large megacorp websites.



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