This consolidation of power is a dream come true for the Big Tech platforms, but it’s a nightmare for users. While the megacorporations get more traffic and a whole lot more user data (read: profit), users are left with far fewer community options and a bland, corporate surveillance machine instead of a vibrant public sphere. The internet we all fell in love with is a diverse and colorful place, full of innovation, connection, and unique opportunities for self-expression. That internet—our internet—is worth defending.
Eugen issued a statement that Mastodon is physically incapable of implementing age verification and that thedecentralized nature of the fediverse means there is no central authority that can block regions which define these laws.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws/
IANAL, but I imagine under the laws, they would go after individual instance owners to mandate verification. The laws have no provision for third party software, so it would fall to the courts, but most instances don’t have the funds to fight it.
Seems untenable.
If I live in Europe and run a mastodon instance open to anyone, it’s not like I or my server fall under a Mississippi law.
What are they going to do, sue my Serbian ass? Serve a restraining order to my Norwegian server?
Oh the laws are completely unenforceable, they’re basically just a blank check to go after any website the ruling class dislikes.