Bluesky introduces age verification: New law causes excitement!

Bluesky introduces age verification: New law causes excitement!

The Online Safety Act has caused a stir in the UK, particularly with the recent move by Bluesky, the social network, to introduce age verification to comply with the new regulations. How The Verge Reportedly, starting July 10, 2025, users will be able to confirm their age in a variety of ways: through facial scanning, uploading an ID, or entering credit card information.

Age verification is carried out via Kid Web Services (KWS), a tool from Epic Games. Users who are under 18 years old or do not wish to pass the exam will receive an account with limited features. This means “adult content” will be blocked and features like direct messaging will be disabled. This follows the Online Safety Act passed in 2023, which aims to ensure the safety of children and adults online.

Background to the Online Safety Act

The Online Safety Act, passed on October 26, 2023, aims to regulate harmful content online and introduce age checks for websites with pornographic content. From July 25, 2023, all platforms hosting such content will be required to offer “highly effective age verification,” which carries significant fines for non-compliance – up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, whichever is greater. Loud Mashable Well-known platforms such as Pornhub have also announced that they will comply with the new laws, but have not yet announced specific methods for age verification.

The security requirements do not only apply to British providers. The law has international impact as it is also relevant to companies serving users in the UK. So even non-UK platforms need to ensure they comply with the regulations, which is clearly regulated in the latest legislation. However, the responsibility for implementing these checks lies with the platforms themselves.

Privacy and censorship concerns

Amid all these developments, privacy advocates warn of possible censorship of the Internet as the new regulations impose strict requirements on user identification. Loud GOV.UK Companies must also put systems in place to reduce access to illegal content and provide reporting mechanisms for parents and children to report harmful content.

Also worrying is the fact that 8% of children aged 8-14 in the UK have encountered pornographic content in the last few months, highlighting the importance of these age verification measures. A survey shows that 80% of adults believe such exams are necessary. All of these measures are intended to help protect children from inappropriate content and create a safer online environment.

Bluesky plans to inform its users in the UK of the new age verification requirements in a timely manner and continue to take measures to ensure the protection of children online. It remains to be seen how effectively these new regulations will be implemented in practice and whether they can provide the desired protection without excessively restricting freedom on the Internet.