STORY #1 - Florida is now barreling toward a digital ID system, and the countdown has already begun.
In just 30 days, tech companies could be forced to verify the identities of millions of users, a move critics warn could quietlyerase online anonymityacross the state.
For months, Governor Ron DeSantis publicly blasted digital ID, warning it would allow governments to control citizens and track their lives online. He even said such a system would “hit a brick wall in Florida.”
Now Florida’s own law may be opening that door.
The Online Protections for Minors Act bans children under 14 from holding social media accounts and requires parental approval for teens 14 and 15. To enforce it, platforms must verify users’ ages or face civil penalties reaching$50,000 per violation.
To prove you’re not a minor, many platformswill require government ID checks or biometric scansthrough third-party verification companies, some of them operating overseas.
In other words,millions of adults may soon be forced to identify themselves just to use the internet.
Critics say this is how digital ID systems always begin, first introduced as child protection, then expanded step by step into something much bigger.
Floridians now have just 30 days before enforcement begins.
The real question now is simple:once the system is built, will it ever be rolled back?
Source: The Vigilant Fox
