Age verification laws are really speech surveillance laws

Two threads ran in parallel today: the KIDS Act, which would require age checks to access most of the internet, and a more pointed discussion arguing that age verification is a precursor to automated attribution of speech. The KIDS Act thread asks 'who wants this?' and the answer from commenters is: not kids, not parents who understand the tradeoffs, and not free speech advocates, but it passes anyway because targeting children is politically costless.

The sharper thread connects age verification to a broader state interest in tying online speech to real identities. The commenter argument: once you verify age with a real ID, the infrastructure for identifying who said what is already built. Governments don't need to add new surveillance, they just need access to the age verification layer that now sits in front of everything.

This is not a fringe concern. The threads reference W Social and 'reputation management' firms that already help governments suppress speech through technical and legal pressure. The Streisand effect thread about Pollen reinforces how quickly suppression attempts backfire, but also how much effort companies now put into burying negative coverage.