

Odds are someone would make an open source service that does the age verification that server owners could setup easily, that is, if the verification is done using franceconnect or some Zero Knowledge Proof service.
If it’s ID verfication then it would be awful.



Most parents either don’t know how to do that, or don’t care enough to stop their kids from using social media, despite how harmful it is for society as a whole, and especially children, and since all their friends are on social media, a child can credibly argue that they need to use it to maintain their social life. If social media is banned for under 16’s, then children would have to communicate with normal chat apps. Also I know from experience that parental controls can easily be bypassed by a dedicated child.
A propely implemented (as in ZKP verification that gives no information to the service other than the age category) age gate is a good thing in my opinion, because at some point some systemic problems are better served by systemic solutions. We don’t let parents decide if their kids should smoke or drink alchohol either.