CONSULTATION - Age restrictions on the forum

Dear all,

Up until now this forum has not placed any age restrictions on those registering accounts. However, following the example of other Nationstates forums, the admin team has been discussing turning on the controls which will make access to this forum possible for over 13s only.

There are a number of reasons why we are considering this.

Firstly, Nationstates is a political simulation intended for over 13s, and the debate is often robust and blunt. The admins do not consider this an appropriate game for young children, and our experience with young children who have registered on the forum has borne this out.

Second, Zetaboard Terms of Service place a great responsibility for child privacy and protection on the administrators of those forums who allow children to register. This is a responsibility the admins are not willing to accept.


What will it mean when the COPPA Child protection controls are turned on?

It will mean that those who give a birth date that is too recent will be prevented from registering an account will be prevented from registering.

It will mean that should we discover that someone has circumvented these safeguards, their account will be deleted.

It will mean that Admins will have a duty (non negotiable) to delete the account of any under 13s we discover on the forum, or anyone who claims to be under 13. This will include those under 13s already registered on the forum.

This thread has been opened as a consultation to allow others on the forum to give their input into the admin discussions. this thread will remain open for seven days (to 4th May) after which the final decision will be made and implemented.

Seems reasonable to me.

I, for one, fully support this.

I support this. But how would you guys know how old current users are? I think for the birthday, the year is not asked.

yes, it is asked. You just have the option not to show it publicly.

Isn't lying about your birthday really easy though? Just change the year to something realistic and older than 12, and there you go.

Mystery Player:

Isn't lying about your birthday really easy though? Just change the year to something realistic and older than 12, and there you go.

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Just do what literally every other forum does - if they lie, not much you can do about it, but they always, always, always end up letting it slip that they are under 13, and it's only then that they get the delete-hammer. ZB is pretty clear on the fact that users will inevitably lie, but the admins simply need to keep an eye out for these liars and promptly act when the user lets slip that they're under 13.

No issues on my end.

But guyz im only 12 I fully support this.

plembobria:

But guyz im only 12 I fully support this.

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I would recommend that people do not even jest like this. From the TOS:

You are required to delete any users who mention that they are under 13 years old if you have opted to ban user under 13 years old from registering.

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it would cause quite a kerfuffle if we deleted the delegate from the forum.

I'm afraid there is not much to discuss. I agree with the restriction. I guess we need to write down the date of birth to validate the account. Should we update our profile to avoid being blocked?

artiza:

I'm afraid there is not much to discuss. I agree with the restriction. I guess we need to write down the date of birth to validate the account. Should we update our profile to avoid being blocked?

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The forum should ask you for your birthday upon joining. Unless you put in the wrong year, you should be good.

Consultation over. Given the lack of objection, COPPA protocols have been turned on and this board is now 13+