Is it time for internet services to adopt identity verification?

The article argues that Australia’s under-16 social media ban highlights the need to rethink online identity, proposing an ecosystem that distinguishes verified from non-verified users to reduce abuse, scams, and phishing while enabling user-level filtering. It acknowledges privacy and data-handling concerns with age and identity verification, notes risks like hijacked verified accounts, and suggests verification can coexist with pseudonymous profiles, improving accountability without silencing speech or mandating universal visibility. The piece concludes that current age-restriction methods fall short and that optional verification-based controls could meaningfully curb harmful content and interactions.