This appears to be part of the “Parents Decide Act” announced earlier in April by Gottheimer, as just one step in the process. So expect a lot more to come. Some bullet point plans from it:
- Require operating system developers like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages when setting up a new device, rather than relying on self-reported ages.
- Allow parents to set age-appropriate content controls from the start, including limiting access to social media, apps, and AI platforms.
- Ensure that age and parental settings securely flow to apps and AI platforms, so content is tailored appropriately for children.
- Prevent children from accessing harmful or explicit content - including inappropriate AI chatbot interactions - by creating a consistent, trusted standard across platforms.Currently, the bill is only in the introductory stage so it hasn’t yet passed and become law, so if this is important to you in the US you may want to speak to your representatives.
Source [web-archive]
I am sorry, but isn’t it 99% not about “children protection” but general surveillance for everyone wrapped up in a “pretty” package that plays, again, on fears as the parenting and unforeseen future backed up with the “time-saving” features for those who are in a hurry within the same system?
Who is this legislation for? Third party “verifier” companies make tons of money, data brokers make tons of money selling info on which users are minors to advertisers and pdf files, fascist government gets “Total Information Awareness”, corrupt government officials make tons of money, … so much winning! so much money to be made!

I would like to remind viewers that image is over 20 years old, and remains relevant (even more today than it ever was).
The Epstein class wants to know who the minors on the internet are.
As a parent, I have zero faith in any system like this. I’m all for more parental controls(like what Gnome 50 just implemented), but I don’t want anything(program, web browser, video game, etc) to be able to query any kind of “age” field on an account on my system.
I don’t want ANYONE to know if my child is using a device. And if that means I have to create an adult account for them, then so be it. I don’t want my child’s information being scraped and imported into some random database that gets leaked or sold to nefarious actors.
Companies would love to know the age of a person using a device
There is a reason why Meta is pushing for age verification. They love children due to the fact that advertisers love to get children hooked early on a product. You should be very careful about who advertises to your child
Friendly reminder that anyone who writes DRM is a traitor to the human race. Find a job that won’t haunt your conscience.
Huh, another OS-level digital ID bill? Who would’ve known?
People are already calling this out, especially with the Jesuit class wanting everything in their power to do that.
If it’s required then parents don’t decide shit
Parents Decide Act
Looks inside
Government decides
They always name bill the opposite of what the bill does. It’s part of the sales campaign.
“Allow parents to…limit access to apps”
Which “apps”? Who determines which apps need to be age approved? Notepad? Couldn’t you write something horrific and send it with that app? Better let the government take that control for you and dictate to OS creators what your kids and you see. They will of course come for your apps next.
cries in age verification pencils and pens
It’s actually super simple. Those NPUs and secure processing extensions are going unused, so just have a government-provided model analyze frames before presenting them on the screen. They can even introduce it in an acronym-named act, “Prevent Explicitly Depicted Objectry”. /s
It doesn’t sound like the parents are the ones deciding, though.
GrapheneOS is about to see a huge uptick in users.
Praying that Linux phones become more daily driver options.
GrapheneOS about to become illegal/probable cause for a terrorism charge. The goal is to criminalize everyone who opposes MAGA tyranny.
I’ll add that to my long list of reasons to stay out of the usa.
To be clear, that was just an expression of frustrated cynicism rather than a warning of any actual policy change. Also, it’s law enforcement in Spain and France that have actually been doing stuff like that so far; I just wouldn’t be surprised if US cops jumped on the bandwagon.
Can’t blame you for wanting to stay away from the US, though!
I didn’t think you were being serious.
Been running GrapheneOS for years now. Started with a Pixel 3, then moved to a Pixel 6 Pro, and now have it on a Pixel 9 Pro. It is ridiculously easy to install and use, and is regularly updated. I love it!
Seconded. On my third (and hopefully final) Pixel running GrapheneOS. Was using a Samsung Galaxy A7 in my teen years, then I got smart and got a Pixel 4 XL to load up GrapheneOS. Things were going well until the Pixel 4 XL spicy pillow (battery) incident.
My next Pixel was a Pixel 6 Pro, and that one was…fine, but yeesh, that thing made me hate Google’s Tensor modem, AKA the modem that is neck and neck with Exynos for being THE WOOOOOOOOOOOORST!
Currently rocking the Pixel 8 Pro, and it has a much better Tensor chip.
Hoping my next GrapheneOS phone will be a Motorola if their recent partnership bears fruit (and a phone with better, preferrably Qualcomm, modem).
I’m cautiously optimistic on Motorola, don’t particularly want to buy a Google phone to avoid Google.
I just put postmarketos on my spare OnePlus 6T. Pretty satisfied with it so far. Plasma mobile suits me better than gnome mobile or phosh.
I preordered the jolla phone with sailfish OS… hopefully that will be a good alternative to todays monopoly
I’m sorry are you thinking you will be allowed to use your non-sanctioned devices on the phone networks?
No they will be blocked at the network level to ensure the safety of children.
You may select a phone from a nice compliant brand, like Apple, Samsung or Google.
Any further attempts to avoid letting the government protect you will result in you being added to the watchlist we share with Peter Thiel.
Promise? Sounds like a feature, not a bug
I’d be fine with this, honestly. It will justify me throwing out all of my electronics and moving to the woods to live out a simple, happy life.
Until you’re like the poor guy I met who couldn’t get out of the courthouse’s parking garage because you pay with an app and he didn’t have a phone.
If I’m showing up at a courthouse, I will not have driven myself there. Likely I’ll have arrived in cuffs.
I guess jury duty is optional where you live?
It is if I throw the letter out.
This guy understands free will!
I ain’t no fucking peer.
You sound like someone who would be more valuable to the state as a prisoner anyway! That’s in no way an insult.
I’ll fist fight the governor for my freedom. The governor is a middle aged woman, so I like my odds.
You guessed it straight to jail.
Just don’t get a major infection. That will end your fantasy one way or the other.
What are doctors going to do anyway? Doctors are scam artists and fluoride makes me gay. I’ll just die.
Are you a frog?

LOL
The free flow of information empowers the proles, time to take it away.
Well, I’ll certainly be looking into alternative, user privacy focused devices going forward. I’ll miss tap to pay and Android Auto / Carplay but I’ll adapt.
Did you miss the word “all” in the headline?
Not every OS is developed in the US. Graphene is developed in Canada, for instance.
…because doing it at the state level is going so well
I hate corporate lobbyists
This is gonna be a great way to teach kids how to circumvent these controls. A whole generation of hackers will be born
Everyone knows this, including those who wrote and will vote for the bill. They don’t care if kids circumvent it, as protecting kids is not what the bill is about. No government gives a fuck about kids, beyond the number on the population chart.
The problem is that modern platforms outside of Windows aren’t hackable. Chromebooks are easy to lock down and predatory companies like Goguardian sell dysopian surveillance tech in the name of child safety. Children are being put under 1984 like surveillance as they aren’t old enough to protect themselves.
Some small flicker of hope for the future…

















