4 ms·

Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK

22 points by donohoe 1y ago

chrisjj 1y ago
> the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face Seriously?
- verdverm 1y ago
  From the first paragraph > the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or entering a payment card. Note the "or"
  - chrisjj 1y ago
    I can't see why. It has no effect on the part in question.
    - verdverm 1y ago
      Important context left out to create more outrage
      - chrisjj 1y ago
        You mistook HN for Reddit.
- gs17 1y ago
  Multiple platforms have had that an an option. It's really odd as a concept to me, does it only work for very obvious cases and for people around 18-30 ask for an ID anyways?
- brikym 1y ago
  Error: 403 - Account holder's testicles have not sufficiently descended.
  - goku12 1y ago
    How do you determine that from a face scan?
    - donohoe 1y ago
      Easy, reflected images in the eyes
cebert 1y ago
I am willing to give up all my civil liberties if it’s for the kids…
- bradac56 1y ago
  You do not have 'civil liberties' in the UK. There is no Miranda rights and there bill of rights is strictly based on the Magna Carta and is not as comprehensive and the US Bill of Rights which was based off of the UK version. Per the wiki: Civil liberties have been gradually declining in the United Kingdom since the late 20th century. Their removal has been generally justified by appeals to public safety and National Security and hastened on by crises such as the September 11 attacks, the 7/7 bombings and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6] The pandemic oversaw the introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020, which was described by former Justice of the Supreme Court Lord Sumption as "the greatest invasion of personal liberty in [the UK's] history."
  - goku12 1y ago
    > The pandemic oversaw the introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020, which was described by former Justice of the Supreme Court Lord Sumption as "the greatest invasion of personal liberty in [the UK's] history." It's these sort of transgressions that make people hesitant or opposed to lifesaving interventions like mass vaccination campaigns and pandemic-time mask mandates. If you give an inch in the name of safety, you'll end up giving a mile permanently in terms of freedom.
omoikane 1y ago
Original blog post: https://bsky.social/about/blog/07-10-2025-age-assurance https://bsky.social/about/blog/07-10-2025-age-assurance I was looking for more details on who is considered in-scope, e.g. if the determination is decided at account creation time or at content access time. Especially considering how the AT protocol is a decentralized protocol that is not exclusive to a single region, it's not obvious how the enforcement will work.
- pfraze 1y ago
  Enforcement occurs at the application level. You can think of applications as analogous to search engines. They're aggregating view layers (which is why they're called AppViews). They are largely where moderation or regulatory requirements are enforced.
  - skybrian 1y ago
    What alternative AppViews are there? Anyone know?
    - moonlion_eth 1y ago
      deer.social zeppelin.social
  - fsflover 1y ago
    Can't alternative applications avoid/fake this verification? Otherwise doesn't it imply no real decentralization?
skybrian 1y ago
I poked around in the Bluesky repos [1] to figure out where the source code is for this feature, but didn't find it. Anyone know? [1] https://github.com/bluesky-social https://github.com/bluesky-social
- verdverm 1y ago
  Here is some of it: https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/pull/4030 https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/pull/4030
  - skybrian 1y ago
    Thanks!
guywithahat 1y ago
[flagged]
- verdverm 1y ago
  > reputation for cp and other forms of abuse That "reputation" is slander from haters and those who don't want others to have nice things Another example is JD Vance, creating an account, making his first post to trans troll [1], and then crowing about how awful Bluesky was to him and how he got blocked. He's still posting as recently as July 4, but he's really just become mostly a social media troll, and Bluesky users generally block trolls instead of engaging them [1] https://blebbit.app/at/did:plc:tkspefzlu72575kljanhe3uj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrvv4usvcs24 https://blebbit.app/at/did:plc:tkspefzlu72575kljanhe3uj/app.... (3rd of the 3 part post)
  - ferf34f4334fg4 1y ago
    > CSAM content on Bluesky has risen ten times in just a week https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41474672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41474672 Peculiar hill you choose to die on.
    - pfraze 1y ago
      And then you can see my reply to that right at the top, so thanks, newly created anon account, for helping to add clarity to the situation
      - verdverm 1y ago
        Bluesky is one of the partners with Roost and working to address this societal level problem. Nothing particularly unique to any company when it comes to CSAM https://roost.tools/partnerships https://roost.tools/partnerships
        pfraze 1y ago
        The roost crew has been great. I’m happy to be working with them
brikym 1y ago
Of course it's in the UK. I'm surprised they don't have an internet licence yet but I'm sure it's coming.
r721 1y ago
Another discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44524571 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44524571

22 points by donohoe 1y ago

chrisjj 1y ago

> the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face Seriously?

verdverm 1y ago
From the first paragraph > the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or entering a payment card. Note the "or"
- chrisjj 1y ago
  I can't see why. It has no effect on the part in question.
  - verdverm 1y ago
    Important context left out to create more outrage
    - chrisjj 1y ago
      You mistook HN for Reddit.
gs17 1y ago
Multiple platforms have had that an an option. It's really odd as a concept to me, does it only work for very obvious cases and for people around 18-30 ask for an ID anyways?
brikym 1y ago
Error: 403 - Account holder's testicles have not sufficiently descended.
- goku12 1y ago
  How do you determine that from a face scan?
  - donohoe 1y ago
    Easy, reflected images in the eyes

cebert 1y ago

I am willing to give up all my civil liberties if it’s for the kids…

bradac56 1y ago
You do not have 'civil liberties' in the UK. There is no Miranda rights and there bill of rights is strictly based on the Magna Carta and is not as comprehensive and the US Bill of Rights which was based off of the UK version. Per the wiki: Civil liberties have been gradually declining in the United Kingdom since the late 20th century. Their removal has been generally justified by appeals to public safety and National Security and hastened on by crises such as the September 11 attacks, the 7/7 bombings and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6] The pandemic oversaw the introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020, which was described by former Justice of the Supreme Court Lord Sumption as "the greatest invasion of personal liberty in [the UK's] history."
- goku12 1y ago
  > The pandemic oversaw the introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020, which was described by former Justice of the Supreme Court Lord Sumption as "the greatest invasion of personal liberty in [the UK's] history." It's these sort of transgressions that make people hesitant or opposed to lifesaving interventions like mass vaccination campaigns and pandemic-time mask mandates. If you give an inch in the name of safety, you'll end up giving a mile permanently in terms of freedom.

omoikane 1y ago

Original blog post: https://bsky.social/about/blog/07-10-2025-age-assurance https://bsky.social/about/blog/07-10-2025-age-assurance I was looking for more details on who is considered in-scope, e.g. if the determination is decided at account creation time or at content access time. Especially considering how the AT protocol is a decentralized protocol that is not exclusive to a single region, it's not obvious how the enforcement will work.

pfraze 1y ago
Enforcement occurs at the application level. You can think of applications as analogous to search engines. They're aggregating view layers (which is why they're called AppViews). They are largely where moderation or regulatory requirements are enforced.
- skybrian 1y ago
  What alternative AppViews are there? Anyone know?
  - moonlion_eth 1y ago
    deer.social zeppelin.social
- fsflover 1y ago
  Can't alternative applications avoid/fake this verification? Otherwise doesn't it imply no real decentralization?

skybrian 1y ago

I poked around in the Bluesky repos [1] to figure out where the source code is for this feature, but didn't find it. Anyone know? [1] https://github.com/bluesky-social https://github.com/bluesky-social

verdverm 1y ago
Here is some of it: https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/pull/4030 https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/pull/4030
- skybrian 1y ago
  Thanks!

guywithahat 1y ago

[flagged]

verdverm 1y ago
> reputation for cp and other forms of abuse That "reputation" is slander from haters and those who don't want others to have nice things Another example is JD Vance, creating an account, making his first post to trans troll [1], and then crowing about how awful Bluesky was to him and how he got blocked. He's still posting as recently as July 4, but he's really just become mostly a social media troll, and Bluesky users generally block trolls instead of engaging them [1] https://blebbit.app/at/did:plc:tkspefzlu72575kljanhe3uj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrvv4usvcs24 https://blebbit.app/at/did:plc:tkspefzlu72575kljanhe3uj/app.... (3rd of the 3 part post)
- ferf34f4334fg4 1y ago
  > CSAM content on Bluesky has risen ten times in just a week https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41474672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41474672 Peculiar hill you choose to die on.
  - pfraze 1y ago
    And then you can see my reply to that right at the top, so thanks, newly created anon account, for helping to add clarity to the situation
    - verdverm 1y ago
      Bluesky is one of the partners with Roost and working to address this societal level problem. Nothing particularly unique to any company when it comes to CSAM https://roost.tools/partnerships https://roost.tools/partnerships
      - pfraze 1y ago
        The roost crew has been great. I’m happy to be working with them

brikym 1y ago

Of course it's in the UK. I'm surprised they don't have an internet licence yet but I'm sure it's coming.

r721 1y ago

Another discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44524571 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44524571