Mastodon explains why it can't verify ages of its users
What's the story
Mastodon, a decentralized social network, has said that it can't comply with Mississippi's age verification law. The law was also the reason why another rival platform, Bluesky, exited from the state. The non-profit organization behind Mastodon explained that its lack of user tracking makes it impossible to enforce such a legislation.
Decentralization debate
Debate between Rochko and Masnick
Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko recently engaged in a heated debate with Bluesky board member Mike Masnick over the age verification law. Rochko argued that "there is nobody that can decide for the fediverse to block Mississippi," stressing the importance of true decentralization. However, Masnick questioned why individual servers like mastodon.social wouldn't be subject to fines for non-compliance with this law.
Compliance challenges
Mastodon's official stance on age verification law
In response to the ongoing debate, Mastodon issued a statement clarifying its position on the age verification law. The nonprofit organization said while it specifies a minimum age of 16 for signing up on its servers, it doesn't have the means to apply age verification. This is because, while the software allows specifying a minimum age, it does not store age-check data, making full age verification unsupported.
Legal guidance
More on Mastodon's statement
Mastodon also encouraged owners of its servers and other Fediverse servers to use online resources like the IFTAS library for trust and safety support. The nonprofit organization stressed that it doesn't track or comment on individual servers' policies and operations. It also advised server admins to observe the laws of their respective jurisdictions, stressing that one of its founding principles was to provide social media independent from US regulations.