We've got the Online Safety Act in the UK, and now we're about to have new rules "to protect children online" - although it mostly affects social media. This is not the usual sort of news we would cover here on GamingOnLinux, but these type of laws tend to have a lot of knock-on effects.
So what exactly has been announced? Starting sometime next year, the UK will follow Australia to completely ban social media for under 16s. This includes the likes of Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). While WhatsApp and Signal appear to currently be exempt.
The UK gov said that high-risk features like livestreaming and "strangers being able to contact children" will also be restricted for under 16s on "other online services like gaming" which will require "stronger requirements for age checks on platforms". It will also hit AI chatbots, specifically those of a "romantic companion" which will be limited to 18+.
I would expect the likes of Reddit, Discord, Bluesky, Threads to also end up included.
In another government post they confirmed that while the law will affect communication features in games, it won't stop under 16s from playing online games.
When children reach 16 / 17 they will be able to access social media but "live streaming, and stranger communication including in gaming, will be switched off by default for these ages".
How will you prove your age across various platforms? Interestingly, the UK gov actually suggests simply using the account age is good enough (or has a linked credit card - like Steam, or an email address that's age verified) but the rules have not yet been formalised. They said Ofcom will "set out in the coming months different options for effective forms of age assurance for proving whether someone is over 16 that are accurate, robust, reliable, and fair".
What's the actual time-line here? They're not being exactly clear. They said the changes should be implemented "in Spring 2027" with the first set of regulations due to be laid before the end of the year.
The end result is that we are all going to have to verify our identities just to access more and more of the internet in the UK. We're past the point of a slippery slope; when it comes to privacy, we are staring down a massive cliff-edge. This is very much a Papers, Please situation for all UK adults.
Just think about how this will affect gaming - any game that has text or voice chat is then likely included (just like with the Online Safety Act - but now this too). It all depends on exactly how Ofcom will lay down the law.
The era of the open internet is over.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: UltraVioletjust like banning kids from smoking and alcohol this is a good thingIt isn't. The equivalent in this situation would be banning kids from being able to purchase phones and PCs. Giving the government the responsibility of managing a child's social media use will have overreaching effects way beyond their so-called "intent" of keeping children safe.
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants" - Albert Camus
Quoting: mr-victoryMeta was supposedly laying groundwork for such changes years agoI'm not surprised. According to the Snowden revelations in 2013, whether wittingly or unwittingly, many big tech companies are basically an extension of the US intelligence community. Namely Facebook/Meta, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and Microsoft. Twitter was surprisingly unmentioned in the Snowden documents, but right after the time when Elon Musk bought Twitter, Elon was able to produce evidence that revealed that Twitter cooperated with the FBI to censor Tweets that they just didn't like, in violation of the 1st amendment of the US Constitution. Censorship via corporate proxy. Long story short, fuck all of those companies.
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1rshc1f/i_traced_2_billion_in_nonprofit_grants_and_45/
Fuck Reddit too btw. Reddit is not an honest platform.
Quoting: SalvatosFinally some good news. Hopefully they block them for 16 and up soon as well.
Quoting: UltraVioletjust like banning kids from smoking and alcohol this is a good thingAmen to both of that.
Quoting: SlaxerThat's not even remotely a fitting equivalent.Quoting: UltraVioletjust like banning kids from smoking and alcohol this is a good thingIt isn't. The equivalent in this situation would be banning kids from being able to purchase phones and PCs.
You are comparing apples to airplanes.
Smoking, alcohol and social media are all a huge negative impact especially on kids.
Phones and PCs are not, both can be quite beneficial if used correctly.
Phones and social media are often used somewhat interchangeably when talking about them, but the former can very well be used without the latter.
The idea that social media can have a positive impact on society has come and gone long ago.
All it did was ease the spreading of misinformation, echo chamber forming and unrecoverable societal division.
Instead of bemoaning the loss of Wild West social media, we should strive to get rid of them entirely, not only for kids.
Maybe it is not too late.
Quoting: SlaxerGiving the government the responsibility of managing a child's social media use will have overreaching effects way beyond their so-called "intent" of keeping children safe.Well, someone has to.
Parents clearly and obviously failed at the task. So beyond parents, who else is there? I can only think of government.
Quoting: Slaxer"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants" - Albert Camus“A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.” - Dorothy Sayers
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 16 Jun 2026 at 11:24 am UTC
Mohandevir 2 hours ago
Quoting: tfkOh, well. Time to teach our kids how to use Tails I guess...Time to bring back ICQ! 😆
Quoting: MohandevirOh-oh!Quoting: tfkOh, well. Time to teach our kids how to use Tails I guess...Time to bring back ICQ! 😆
Nowadays? Different story. The problem is that even most adults lack media competency. Throwing minors in there ... oh well. You can see what steam has become with all these weird "woke" cryers and so on. Somebody telling kids that this is "ruining gaming" will get them on board quick.
Honestly some kind of general internet license would even be better because even most adults are not fit to use it. Maybe require people to pass a test when making a contract with an ISP. The ISP requires your data anyways.
Quoting: TheSHEEEPYou are comparing apples to airplanes.No, you are.
Minors are legally allowed to smoke and drink in my country (Canada), you're just not allowed to sell or procure for them the cigarettes or the alcohol. Maybe the Brits of Gamingonlinux can chime in on this, but from what I understand, teenage drinking isn't taboo over there like it is over here. Without looking it up, I'm also pretty sure the legal drinking age in the UK is 16.
Quoting: TheSHEEEPParents clearly and obviously failed at the task. So beyond parents, who else is there? I can only think of government.Heh, your name checks out. Don't worry about it, go back to sleep.
Quoting: TheSHEEEP“A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.” - Dorothy SayersSo... don't quote anybody then, ever? What a shitty idea.
Mohandevir 30 minutes ago
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