A facial scan on Instagram, a video selfie on TikTok, a thumbprint passcode on YouTube, and an ID upload on Facebook. It’s not the scene yet, but collecting our biometrics to post an AI slop meme will just become the norm as Big Social goes through its Big Tobacco moment.
The digital landscape is undergoing a massive upheaval in the wake of social media addiction lawsuits and a frantic regulatory scramble for age verification. As social media platforms face a landmark legal reckoning over the “dopamine reaction” and addictive design choices that harm children, a fundamental technical and ethical crisis has emerged. Countries like Australia are enforcing social media bans for people under age 16, while Meta is currently on trial for claims of intentionally creating an addictive environment for children on its platforms.
In the race to verify a user’s age—the primary tool companies have implemented to curb childhood addiction—these social media platforms have unveiled a paradox commonly referred to as the “age verification trap.” Simply, by attempting to enforce age verification rules on its users, these companies are undermining the data privacy of those very users.
Big Social has its Big Tobacco moment
