The Age-Gated Internet: Child Safety, Identity Infrastructure, and the Not So Quiet Re-Architecting of the Web

I’ve written a long-form piece exploring how age-verification and youth safety laws may be reshaping the architecture of the internet itself.

The idea is that we’re moving from an open, anonymous web toward identity-mediated access, where who you are determines what digital environments you can access.

It connects current regulation with longer-term shifts in platforms, identity systems, and governance.

Curious whether people think this is a temporary phase focused on child safety, or the early stages of a more permanent shift in how the internet works.