A lot of the devices we use in the kitchen (Thermomix, microwaves, dishwashers, coffeemakers etc) use complete operating systems and embedded computers nowadays, often with internet connectivity for who knows what. So. Will we soon see mandated fingerprint readers for age verification or will a simple switch with "18+" be sufficient to continue to cook and clean? ;)

#SarcasmButOnlyHalf #AgeVerification

A redditor (Ok_Lingonberry3296) traced $2 billion in nonprofit grants and lobbying records across 45 states to figure out who's behind the age verification bills.

The answer is Meta - a company that profits from your data writing laws that collect more of it.

Page: github.com/upper-up/meta-lobby…

Page backup: archive.ph/2026.03.13-193015/g…

Reddit discussion: web.archive.org/web/2026031314…

#Meta #Facebook #AgeVerification #privacy #surveillance #dystopia #socialmedia #technology

GitHub - upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings

Contribute to upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings development by creating an account on GitHub.

^GitHub

This is the post. Very interesting.

"traced $2 billion in nonprofit grants and 45
states of lobbying records to figure out who's
pehind the #AgeVerification bills. The answer
involves a company that profits from your data
vriting laws that collect more of it. y
OK_Lingonberry3296 in linux
|-|Ok_Lingonberry3296 |S 60 points 7 hoursago

The Heritage connection is documented and it qoes deeper than most people realize. #HeritageFoundation funded three of the six
named organizations in the Digital
Childhood Alliance coalition, which is
tne group pushing these bills
nationally.

Those three are NCOSE (National Center on Sexual Exploitation), the institute for Family Studies, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The last two received $50,000 each specifically for a "Protect Kids Online' initiative that produced the policy research underlying the ASAA framework.
Here's also a direct personnel pipeline. Annie Chestnut Tutor worked as a legislative assistant to Senator Mike Lee, where her portfolio included tech and telecom policy. Lee introduced the federal ASAA. Tutor then moved to Heritage Foundation as
a policy analyst, where she now publishes reports advocating tor the same bill her former boss introduced. Her testimonial was on the DCA website from its verv first dav of
existence, before the organization was even publicly announced. She shaped the bill in Lee's office, advocates for it at Heritage, and endorsed the coalition pushing it trom launch day. On top of that, Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty (another DCA coalition member). was hired as Executive Vice President of Heritage Action for America in July 2025. So two of DCA's six named members are now functionally the same
organization at the leadership level. Meanwhile, a Heritage Foundation fellow named Dustin Carmack, who authored the Intelligence Community chapter of Proiect 2025, was hired by Meta in May 2024. So there's personnel flowing in both directions.
On your point about the EU and UK: the
comparison actually helps illustrate
the problem. The EU's Digital Services Act and related frameworks include explicIt exemptions for open source software. None of the US bills do. California AB-1043 defines "Operatinc system Provider" as anyone who
develops, licenses, or controls an OS
on any general purpose computing
level. That language covers
Volunteer-maintained Linux
distributions.

Six US states have enacted or introduced bills from the same template and not one contains a FOSS carve-out. Whether that's intentional or
just negligent drafting, the effect is the
same. We will upload more files regarding the Heritage Foundation platter this week"

Reddit seems to have deleted a post with 7400 upvotes and the title:

"I traced $2B in grants and 45 states' lobbying behind age‑verification bills"

.... US Corpos do not want us to see this but luckily we still have this github repo.

Here the relevant reddit post that was removed:

old.reddit.com/r/linux/comment…

And here the github repo

github.com/upper-up/meta-lobby…

#reddit #ageVerification #corpos #cencorship

GitHub - upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings

Contribute to upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings development by creating an account on GitHub.

^GitHub

The age-assurance industry shouldn't exist.

Stop age verification now, and tell your governments and service providers they cannot trust these predatory corporations.

#AgeVerification #Privacy #MassSurveillance

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

The UK Information Commissioner's Office and Ofcom are pushing for tech companies to strengthen age checks.

It's disastrous that the ICO wants to somehow 'protect children’s data' by compelling 13-18 year olds to use poorly regulated digital identification products that could put their biometric data at risk.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home…

#ageverification #privacy #digitalid #ofcom #ico #onlinesafety #ukpolitics #ukpol

Watchdogs call on big tech to ‘urgently’ do more to protect children online

The regulators accused tech platforms of ‘failing to put children’s safety at the heart of their products’

^{Nicole Wootton-Cane (The Independent)}

Whenever you hear "ban for kids" on the internet, read in reality "ID collection by a sketchy third-party company that will definitely use it or leak it or both for every adult."

Because that's what this truly means.
Also, it doesn't even help the kids.

#AgeVerification #Privacy #MassSurveillance #Authoritarianism

If enough Canadians contact
their local representatives, as well Mark Carney's office this week, we might be spared from this authoritarian mass-surveillance measure called "Age Verification" in Canada.

The time to fight back is NOW: ctvnews.ca/politics/article/so…

Privacy is a human right essential to safety and democracy. If we do not fight to protect it, we will lose it.

#AgeVerification #MassSurveillance #Privacy #Democracy #HumanRights #Canada #CanPoli

Social media ban for kids under consideration in online harms bill: Carney

While there should be “debate” in Canada about a social media ban for children, Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has not made up his own mind on the issue yet.

^{The Canadian Press (CTVNews)}

Hundreds of scientists say stop! ✋🚨

Governments should pause plans for mandatory #AgeChecks on online services until serious #privacy and #security concerns are addressed.

As countries push to ban children from social media, the risk to everyone’s privacy is growing. 🔐🌍

👉 Read more on #AgeVerification, why scientist say NO & whether your country wants it: tuta.com/blog/age-verification…