Mastodon Cites Decentralization, Lacks Means to Comply with US Age Verification Laws

Mastodon, a decentralized social network, has publicly stated its inability to comply with new age verification laws, such as Mississippi's, which require social media platforms to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent for minors. The nonprofit behind Mastodon emphasizes that its federated and decentralized structure, which operates on independent servers without centralized user tracking or storing age verification data, makes uniform enforcement practically impossible. Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko highlighted that no single entity can decide to block entire states like Mississippi for the fediverse, underscoring the importance of decentralization, while critics questioned why individual servers wouldn't face fines for non-compliance. The platform's software does allow setting minimum age requirements and permits server administrators to perform age checks, but it lacks the technical infrastructure and resources to implement full age verification at scale. Mastodon advises individual server admins to comply with local laws independently and rejects IP-based restrictions due to their unfair impact on transient users. This situation mirrors the approach of rival platform Bluesky, which exited Mississippi due to similar compliance challenges, reflecting broader tensions between decentralized platforms and emerging regulatory demands.