As a Free Software and Open Source advocate, I am always aware of the latest technology changes. In March of 2026, I found several articles and visuals detailing laws that people were trying to pass to force operating systems to have “age verification” built into them. I should not have to tell you my opinion on this because it should be obvious.
The goal of these laws is to force people to prove that they are 18 years or older to be able to use their computers. As someone who grew up with old computers running DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 98, and Ubuntu Linux, all before I was 18, I have to say that I oppose such laws because they prevent kids from learning how to use computers at an early age.
People who are in favor of these laws claim that they are protecting children from harmful things. Don’t fall for this lie. No additional software changes are needed. Parents are ultimately in charge of the computers they buy for their kids and installing parental controls on them if they wish. Also, many websites require users to be 13 years or older to create things like a Facebook account. At some point, these children and especially their parents need to be responsible for following the rules.
I am not against age verification in principle, but I have to consider the facts. In many cases, age verification will require users to provide photo IDs or Driver’s Licenses to access services we depend on. AI software for reading these already exists for many websites.
If the government just decides that your state ID or driver’s license is nullified and invalid, this means you can no longer do what others do. See the situation in Kansas for why I, as a Transgender person, am concerned with the evil things governments can do on a whim.
But laws like the recent one in California go a step further and want to make age verification part of the operating system.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1043
If you are on a PC or cell phone using software by Microsoft, Apple, or Google, you will not experience any change because these operating systems already lock people out if they don’t have money to buy things in the app stores or a cell phone that can receive text messages. In most cases, only adults have access to cell numbers and email addresses due to the fact that email providers now force people to verify with their phones.
Side note: The two-step cell phone text verification is a crime against my own mother, who cannot operate a cell phone and has to have my help to get into her own email sometimes. I have also been kicked off my own email several times and had to use my phone. Digital ID is already here because nobody is allowed to do literally anything without a cell phone these days. People can’t even work at Walmart without a cell phone anymore because everything requires the MyWalmart app, which uses the same verification. If my cell phone is lost or stolen, I can’t clock in to work, can’t check my bank account, order an Uber ride, or even call my mom to tell her I am alive. Though at least I can walk since we are both in Lee’s Summit.
I am a 38-year-old adult who used computers long before I even had internet access. My own response to these evil actions is to censor and restrict people from using their own computers. The biggest target that will be hurt is the Linux operating system because Linux is all about Freedom of software and privacy. The laws passing in some states can make it illegal to install or distribute an operating system without these age verification signals, constantly letting the government and all foreign enemies know who you are and how old you are, because they have your photo ID, which may or may not be valid depending on how transgender you are at the time.
My cell phone controlling my life is something I can’t do anything about, but nobody touches my Linux PC, where I write my books and do my own programming for the pure love of math. These draconian laws basically make the past 30 years of my life using computers illegal.
But you know what? It’s gonna be funny when I go to prison and am placed in a room full of rapists, murderers, and people who did nothing wrong but were accused of things because of their skin color. They will ask me: “What are you in for?”
And I will tell them, “I used Linux and wrote several books and hundreds of fun programs.” Then they will ask me what Linux is. If you feel bad because you don’t know what Linux or the GNU project is, keep in mind that these lawmakers don’t have a clue either.
Chastity White Rose 
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