Let me see some ID: age verification is spreading across the internet

Sony is starting to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act by notifying PlayStation players of its age verification requirements today. PS4 and PS5 owners in the UK and Ireland won’t be able to participate in voice chats, messaging, parties, or other third-party communication services from June unless they verify their age.

“Beginning June 2026, if you have not completed age verification, you can continue playing on PlayStation, but some features won’t be available until you verify your age,” says Sony in a support note. Age verification will also be required for broadcasting features or sharing gameplay to YouTube or Twitch from a PlayStation console.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would’ve required residents to verify their age before accessing porn sites, as reported earlier by 404 Media. In a letter to the members of the assembly last week, Evers writes that the bill “imposes an intrusive burden on adults who are trying to access constitutionally protected materials.”

The bill (AB 105) would’ve required sites with more than one-third of their total content deemed harmful to minors to impose a “reasonable” form of age verification, such as asking users to show their government-issued ID. More than two dozen states have already passed similar age check requirements for access to adult content, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia. As a result, Pornhub has blocked its site in these locations.

Apple now requires users in the UK to verify their age with the launch of iOS 26.4. In a support page on Apple’s website, the company says users must confirm that they’re over 18 to “use certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account.”

UK users can confirm their age by scanning their ID or using a credit card. If a user already has an Apple account, the company may use a linked payment method to verify that they’re over 18. Otherwise, Apple will automatically enable child safety protections, including features that block adult content on the web and blur messages containing nudity.

A package of child safety bills is headed to the House floor following an hours-long session that left Democrats and Republicans divided. On Thursday, lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to advance the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act; Sammy’s Law; and the App Store Accountability Act, which would require app stores to introduce age-gating.

The KIDS Act, which is sponsored by Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), encompasses several child safety laws. That includes a version of the latest House Republican update to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) without the “duty of care” provision central to the Senate’s bipartisan version of the bill, which requires big tech platforms to mitigate risks to minors.

The Federal Trade Commission is encouraging companies to adopt age verification technologies by announcing it will not enforce a children’s online privacy law against certain websites that collect and use minors’ personal data in order to verify their ages.

“Age verification technologies are some of the most child-protective technologies to emerge in decades,” Christopher Mufarrige, the director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release. “Our statement incentivizes operators to use these innovative tools, empowering parents to protect their children online.”

Apple users running the iOS 26.4 beta in the UK saw prompts telling them to verify that they’re over 18 following installation. As shown in screenshots posted to Reddit, Apple says users who don’t confirm their age “will not be able to download and purchase apps or make in-app purchases.”

Apple spokesperson Peter Ajemian says the company has since removed the prompt:

Apple, like many others, has had to launch age verification features in response to new requirements for age checks in many regions, and on Tuesday, the company announced new details about its tools that developers can use to “meet their age assurance obligations under upcoming U.S. and regional laws, including in Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Utah, and Louisiana.”

One of the big updates is that users in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore can’t download apps rated 18-plus unless their age has been confirmed through “reasonable methods,” which the App Store can confirm automatically. Apple notes that developers may still “have separate obligations to independently confirm that their users are adults,” and they can use Apple’s Declared Age Range API, introduced last year to let app developers request age range information about users, to help.

Discord won’t roll out age verification globally on its platform next month as previously announced, and says in a blog post that it’s delaying the launch until the second half of 2026. “The way this landed, many of you walked away thinking we’re requiring face scans and ID uploads from everyone just to use Discord. That’s not what’s happening, but the fact that so many people believe it tells us we failed at our most basic job: clearly explaining what we’re doing and why,” writes Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy.

Discord says that before it rolls out age verification globally, it will add more options for users to verify their age (including with a credit card), include documentation of every verification vendor used, add an option for “spoiler channels” in Discord as an alternative to age-gated channels for walling off certain topics, and publish a technical blog post explaining how its age estimation systems work.

Discord is attempting to distance itself from the age verification provider Persona following a steady stream of user backlash. In an emailed statement to The Verge, Discord’s head of product policy, Savannah Badalich, confirms the company “ran a limited test of Persona in the UK where age assurance had previously launched and that test has since concluded.”

After Discord announced plans to implement age verification globally starting next month, users across social media accused Discord of “lying” about how it plans on handling face scans and ID uploads. Much of the criticism was directed toward Discord’s partnership with Persona, an age verification provider also used by Reddit and Roblox.

On Tuesday, Discord released an update clarifying that the “vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today,” without needing to use a face scan or ID to verify their age so they can use the platform without restrictions. Discord states in the post that “age prediction” using information Discord already has will likely be sufficient for many users:

However, in the case that Discord’s age inference model can’t accurately or concretely estimate a user’s age, they will still have to use a video selfie or ID to verify that they’re an adult. Users who aren’t verified as adults or determined to be under 18 will have a “teen-appropriate” experience with certain limitations, like being blocked from age-restricted servers.

Discord is about to force some of the people who use its messaging app to make a choice: Use the platform with restricted features, or prove their age. It’s a move that platforms have been slowly approaching, but Discord’s teen-by-default rollout is a stronger clampdown that could offer a glimpse at an age-gated future on the web worldwide.

Starting next month, users who don’t verify their age using a face scan or government ID will no longer be able to access age-restricted servers and channels, can’t speak in Discord’s “stage” channels, and will see filters for any content deemed graphic or sensitive, among other restrictions. They will only be able to skip age checks if Discord’s forthcoming age inference model determines that they’re an adult. The rules are a more extreme version of policies many services are rolling out, often in response to lawsuits and government pressure — even if the technology isn’t ready yet.

Discord announced on Monday that it’s rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users’ accounts to a “teen-appropriate” experience unless they demonstrate that they’re adults.

“For most adults, age verification won’t be required, as Discord’s age inference model uses account information such as account tenure, device and activity data, and aggregated, high-level patterns across Discord communities. Discord does not use private messages or any message content in this process,” Savannah Badalich, Discord’s global head of product policy, tells The Verge.

OpenAI has added age prediction features to ChatGPT, meant to identify and bolster protections for underage users. These age detection plans were announced in December alongside updated guidelines for interacting with teens and follow a rise in similar age-gating efforts from online platforms, including Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Roblox.

ChatGPT’s age prediction model works by examining behavioral and account-level signals, including a user’s stated age, how old the account is, when the user is active, and usage patterns over time. Additional protections will then be applied to persons that ChatGPT estimates are under the age of 18, restricting exposure to sensitive content, such as:

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In the offline world, age verification is often as simple as flashing a cashier your driver’s license to buy a pack of beer, or an adult magazine (for whoever still does this kind of thing). Advocates for stronger barriers preventing children from accessing online porn have long argued for an equivalent on the internet: online age verification. The idea comes with different challenges than those that exist in the physical world, like the possibility of that information getting hacked, which could be enough to chill consumers from trying to access legal speech. In a 2004 Supreme Court ruling, Ashcroft v. ACLU, the justices found that age verification couldn’t be mandated on porn sites since policymakers had yet to show that less burdensome alternatives, like enabling parents to turn content filters on their own computers to block kids from accessing inappropriate sites, were less effective.

Roblox is rolling out its previously announced requirement for all users to go through an age estimation process to be able to use the platform’s chat features. The policy was announced in November 2025 and was rolled out to Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands in December, but now users will be prompted to complete an age check to be able to chat in “all regions where chat is available,” Roblox says.

The company’s facial scan age check process uses technology from Persona, which is also used by Reddit. If a user wants to appeal the result of their age check, they can also verify their age via ID verification, and a parent can also use parental controls to update the age of their child.

As usual, 2025 was a year of deep congressional dysfunction in the US. But state legislatures were passing laws that govern everything from AI to social media to the right to repair. Many of these laws, alongside rules passed in past years, take effect in 2026 — either right now or in the coming months.

As of January 1st, Americans should have the right to crypto ATM refunds in Colorado, wide-ranging electronics repairs in Colorado and Washington, and AI system transparency in California, among other things. But a last-minute court ruling offered a reprieve from one high-profile state law: Texas’ App Store-based age verification rule.

A federal judge blocked a Texas law requiring mobile app stores to verify users’ ages from taking effect on January 1st.

In an order granting a preliminary injunction on the Texas App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420), Judge Robert Pitman wrote that the statute “is akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen could enter and again when they try to purchase a book.” Pitman has not yet ruled on the merits of the case, but his decision to grant the preliminary injunction means he believes its defenders are unlikely to prevail in court.

Australia is joining a wave of governments around the globe in regulating how kids spend their time online. On December 10th, most major social media platforms will boot children in the country under 16 from their services. Under the law, social platforms will also need to implement a “reasonable” age verification method there — while critics argue kids will get around it anyway.

These changes stem from Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill, which passed in November 2024. They’re not only a big deal for Australian youth, but also a preview of a policy that’s been floated in numerous other places. Here’s a rundown of what the new law means and how it will affect each platform.

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Back in 2018, two years after the UK government decided to implement mandatory hard age gates on adult websites, it floated an idea called the “porn pass.” The porn pass was a physical card you’d buy by handing over your ID to a brick-and-mortar shop attendant. It would contain authentication information that would act as a low-tech anonymization system, letting you verify you were over 18 years old online without entering personal details.

Starting next year, Texas will require companies like Apple and Google to verify the ages of people that use their app stores, and Apple shared today how it’s going to comply. Starting January 1st, 2026, anyone trying to make a new Apple Account must confirm if they are over 18, and any users under 18 must join a Family Sharing group. Parents and guardians will also be required to give their consent for users under 18 to download apps or to make in-app purchases.

Developers will also have to make changes to comply with the law. Apple already offers a Declared Age Range API that developers can implement to ask users their general age, and the API “will be updated in the coming months to provide the required age categories for new account users in Texas,” Apple says. Apple is also launching new APIs “later this year” that “will enable developers, when they determine a significant change is made to their app, to invoke a system experience to allow the user to request that parental consent be re-obtained.”