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Stop Killing The Internet: No Digital ID & No Age Verification Petition (citizens-initiative.europa.eu)

submitted 3 weeks ago by Sunshine@piefed.ca to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk

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[-] Humanius@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That's just how these Citizen's Initiatives work.

Since there are requirements for the European Parliament to address the concerns, they need a way to verify that the signatures are actually real and match to EU citizens.

They need some way to prevent spam which would make this democratic tool meaningless.

[-] jdr@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 weeks ago

[removed by mod]

[-] Humanius@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

As the Citizen's Initiative says:

Citizens must not be forced to identify themselves to access lawful online content or services unless strictly necessary, proportionate and provided by law.

I would argue in this case e-ID verification (or other verification of identity) is necessary and proportionate.

[-] jdr@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 weeks ago

Is it really "strictly necessary"?

(I also wasn't given the opportunity to use my e-ID, only to fill out my address)

[-] Humanius@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Given that this is part of the legislative process, and there is legal requirements for European Parliament to adhere to if the Citizen's Initiative meets the threshold, I would argue that signing the petition has a similar weight to casting a ballot in an election.

Just like how you need to verify in an election that someone is legally allowed to vote in that election, this petition needs to verify whether someone is legally allowed to sign the petition.

If there was no verification of identity, hypothetically someone could fill the platform with junk petitions, which could all be signed by a bunch of Russian bots. It would completely undermine the democratic process.

So yes, I do believe identity verification is "strictly necessary" in this case

this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2026

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