There are some comments here that discuss what this anonymous age verification system would look like. Basically it sounds like a system like that would require a separate service to verify that you're of age and then issue a one time password. There’s more details but thats the gist of it.
I'd still like to know how you think this is remotely enforceable on the Fediverse
I’m not necessarily advocating for ID verification, but to answer your question: most instances require an application to join anyway, so this could simply be tacked ontop.
From what I understand aussie.zone already does something like this. To join, apparently they require a picture of you at a bar with a beer to prove that you're over 18. Not a perfect method but procedurally not that different from checking IDs.
There are some good comments on this thread that talk about public policy (beyond just ‘be a parent bro’) that do not require handing over any IDs or other compromising info to big tech. That would be the ideal solution in my opinion
Of course there is a role for parents to play here, but I worry that making this the sole responsibility of parents allows big tech to evade responsibility. Vendors are not allowed to sell things to children that we can reasonably foresee will cause them harm, like alcohol or cigarettes. Why should social media be any different?
This may have been true when personal computers were the primary way people access the web, but I don't think thats true anymore. With smart phones kids can access social media anywhere. At home sure, but also at school and extracurricular events or at a friends house etc
I guess lemmy would fair better in this scenario because moderation costs would be split between different instance owners. It still might be potentially prohibitive even for them though
Thats a good point about the bouncer.
There are some comments here that discuss what this anonymous age verification system would look like. Basically it sounds like a system like that would require a separate service to verify that you're of age and then issue a one time password. There’s more details but thats the gist of it.