Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: Bluesky is rolling out age verification in South Dakota and Wyoming

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 16:57:53 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky...

Bluesky is expanding its age verification features stateside. The service
will require users in South Dakota and Wyoming to verify their ages in order
to access direct messaging and adult content on the site.

The update comes after both states have enacted laws requiring online
platforms that host "harmful" content to verify the ages of their users.
Bluesky's approach will mirror its actions in the UK, which also requires age
checks following the passage of its Online Safety Act. The company has opted
to use Epic Games' Kids Web Services to conduct the checks and users can
choose between several methods,including face scans, ID scans or using a
credit card.

The service will still be available to people in the states that don't verify
their age, but specific features will be restricted. In an update, the
company said "we believe this approach currently strikes the right balance."
Last month, the service opted to go dark in the state of Mississippi rather
than comply with a more restrictive age verification law that would have
required it to block anyone whose age hadn't been confirmed.

"To implement this change, we would have had to invest substantial resources
in a solution that we believe limits free speech and disproportionately harms
smaller platforms," Bluesky explains. "We chose not to offer our service
there at this time while legal challenges continue."

The update comes as age verification laws have been ramping up in the US. So
far, 25 states have passed laws requiring some form of age verification to
access adult content, and numerous others have similar legislation in the
works. In its post, Bluesky notes that it expects more regulations in other
states and countries in the near term.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky...
in-south-dakota-and-wyoming-165753460.html?src=rss

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