We all want our children to be safe online. That instinct is human and urgent.

Australia has banned social media for children under 16. Similar laws are spreading across the US, UK, and Europe. The momentum feels overwhelming. Who could oppose protecting children?

But before we build age verification into the internet itself, there is a question worth asking.

What are we actually trading?

To verify the age of children, everyone must be verified. Every adult. Every account. Every post. Online age verification links digital activity to government identity in permanent, searchable databases.

This is not like showing ID at a bar. Online verification does not end at access. It creates records.

In this video, I cover:

• Why age verification requires mass identity verification

• How surveillance systems always expand beyond their original purpose

• Why this does not solve the real harms facing kids online

• What history shows us about “temporary” safety measures

• What it means for a child to grow up inside this system

The harms to children online are real. But freedom has always had costs, and surveillance has consequences.

Before we build something permanent, we should understand what it becomes once it exists.

This is not an argument for doing nothing. It is an argument for responsibility, parenting, and skills over systems that cannot be rolled back.

I am sharing this so you can decide with open eyes before the trade off is made for all of us.