I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it clearly is necessary - we expect parents to do this but most are obviously failing (and I say this being a

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it clearly is necessary - we expect parents to do this but most are obviously failing (and I say this being a parent myself). Look what any 13 year old is doing on their phone or what disgusting horrors they encounter on the abyss of tiktok or Roblox. On the other hand the means available to block access are too crude and seem to impinge on everyone's privacy. A shopkeeper checking the age to sell alcohol can look at your face, but an app cannot - so the solutions all seem to resort to quite invasive age checks. I saw this related EU initiative a few weeks ago (also on HN) which seems to try to find a middle ground where you have to authorise ones and then can simply prove you are 18 without revealing any private info, but I do wonder how this holds up in practice - will the most-in-need-of-protection kids not simply get an adult to do a one-off signup for them? https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/04/30/what-to-know-about-the-eus-new-age-verification-app-to-protect-children-online https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/04/30/what-to-know-about-...