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Comment by Shank | Hacker News Reader

I mean yeah, you could, but forging identity documents is illegal in most places with functioning legal systems, for obvious reasons. Forging a government ID and presenting it as a real one is a giant minefield that most people probably don't want to be in.

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The person offering the site will be from a jurisdiction where they don't have to care, and will do it either for the lulz or for money.

The 12 year old kid using the site will not care about the legal implications.

You're suggesting that it should be illegal to lie to Roblox about your identity?

Yes? Duh? That's the point of anti-forgery laws.

Who exactly is the victim of the crime which such a law creates? If the purpose of age verification is ostensibly to protect children, and if children are the ones lying about their age, then are they both the perpetrator and the victim?

In any case, dragging a 12 year old through the legal system seems like a greater harm than allowing them to play Roblox (although perhaps not by much).

Say that again but about cigarettes and alcohol.

If a child is using a fake ID to buy cigarettes and alcohol, the harm they suffer is not from owning or presenting the ID, but from consuming the product which the ID gives them access to.

A company could in theory ask for ID before selling any product (ignoring age discrimination laws), and you wouldn't say that a child is harmed if they use their fake ID to buy a bottle of water, for example, so the use of the fake ID doesn't necessarily lead to harm.

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