If passed, the bill would apply across the U.S., unlike the state-level laws already around.

From the press release [my emphasis]:

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.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/25834609

The U.S. has been quietly building up a set of state-level laws that push operating system providers into the age verification plague.

California’s AB 1043, signed in October 2025, requires OS providers to collect age data at account setup and pipe it to apps through a real-time API. It kicks in on January 1, 2027.

Colorado is working on something nearly identical. SB26-051 (which we covered when it was still a proposal) passed the state Senate 28-7 on March 3, 2026, and is now waiting on a House vote to become law there too.

However, these are just state-level laws. A new federal bill, H.R.8250, introduced on April 13, 2026, by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, with Rep. Elise M. Stefanik signing on as cosponsor, has us intrigued.

  • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1031·
    4 days ago

    All of these sorts of laws are designed to do two things:

    1. Destroy privacy

    2. Destroy Free Software (because inevitable end result will be enforcement via DRM, obviously)

    That’s why it’s vitally important to stand united against them, and bootlicking class traitors like Lennart Poettering need to be bitch-slapped into either standing with us or fucking off out of Linux development entirely.

    • redsand@infosec.pubEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Ban them. They don’t need push access. Their contributions are no longer welcome in any form on any project.

    • Pommes_für_dein_Balg@feddit.orgEnglish
      53·
      3 days ago

      I’m sure if we just keep sending more death threats and pizza deliveries to the homes of volunteer FOSS maintainers, the Trump admin will reconsider this law.

      • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        3 days ago

        WTF are you talking about? First of all, nobody said anything about death threats or pizza deliveries, and second, Poettering is not a “volunteer.” He’s spent his career getting paid by Red Hat and then Microsoft to make Linux more corporate-friendly.

      • redsand@infosec.pubEnglish
        11·
        3 days ago

        I would love to hear Danny and this cunt are getting death threats and pizza. Link?

          • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            2 days ago

            There’s literally no way they van enforce laws on an open source project

            I’m guessing you weren’t running a modded Minecraft server when CraftBukkit was hit with a DMCA ban and disappeared from GitHub overnight. (The DMCA is a shit law, passed by shit-heads to be shitty.)

            Open Source is huge, but not invincible. We still have to act to protect it.

            • quick_snail@feddit.nlEnglish
              1·
              2 days ago

              So they moved to gitlab of codeberg or self hosted gitea?

              What’s your point? Git is decentralized. Getting banned from GitHub takes about 1 day to fix, at most.

              • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zipEnglish
                2·
                2 days ago

                That’s not how it played out. Contributors were alarmed, distribution modes had to be rebuilt. Some of those options fight exist yet.

                Contributors were afraid to continue to contribute.

                The ecosystem is more resilient today because of crap like that.

                But it’s vain to believe that public copies won’t go away. People have to feel safe to share.