Cigarettes are deadly
Broadcasting porn isn't an age ID issue, it's public airwaves and they're regulated.
These aren't primarily "think of the children" arguments, the former is a major public health issue that's taken decades to begin to address, and the latter is about ownership.
I don't think that chat rooms are in the same category as either public airwaves or drugs. Besides what's the realistic outcome here? Under 18's aren't stupid, what would you have done as a kid if Discord was suddenly blocked off? Shrug and not talk to your friends again?
Or would you figure out how to bypass the checks, use a different service, or just use IRC? Telegram chats? Something even less moderated and far more open to abuse, because that's what can slip under the radar.
So no I don't think this is about protecting kids, I think it's about normalizing the loss of anonymity online.
You can swap cigarettes with another age restricted product, like pornography or 18-rated DVDs if you prefer.
The UK also has rules on what can be broadcast on TV depending on the time of day.
> These aren't primarily "think of the children" arguments
Are you kidding me? v-chip, mary whitehouse, Sex on TV are all the result of "think of the children" moral panics. Its fuck all to do with ownership.
> I don't think that chat rooms are in the same category as either public airwaves
Discord are making cash from underage kids, in the same way that meta and google are, in the same way that disney and netflix offering kids channels.
Look I'm not saying that discord should be banned for kids, but I really do think that there is a better option than the binary "Ban it all"/"fuck it, let them eat porn"
Kids need to be able to talk to each other, but they also should be able to do that without being either preyed upon by nonces, extremists, state actors and more likely bored trolls.
Its totally possible to provide anonymous age gating, but its almost certainly going to be provided by an adtech company unless we, the community provide something cheaper and better.