In August, the internet faced a new wave of harsh regulation and infrastructure failures. The main trends remain the expansion of social media bans for teens and online identity verification in the EU and the U.S.
In parallel, the countries of Central Asia and the Americas were hit by a series of blackouts and natural-disaster shutdowns.
This month we’re again releasing two versions of the digest, including one with news from Russia — stay on top of regional internet censorship
August’s Global Trends: Bans for Children and New Mechanisms for Controlling Adults
Laws banning social media for minors and requiring mandatory age verification are spreading across the world. Paradoxically, in some cases citizens themselves support them. We explain where such rules are already in force and where they’re being prepared for adoption.
The EU Is Preparing an Age-Verification System Using Built-In Chips
In late July, GitHub users discovered a controversial requirement written into the European Union’s age-verification project. Apps would have to confirm age through hardware attestation — built-in security modules like Apple Secure Enclave or Android TEE. Only programs from the European Commission’s official list would be able to work, which rules out independent firmware and alternative operating systems.
Such a scheme creates a permanent digital fingerprint of the device and makes it easier to track users.
Owners of Linux, GrapheneOS, and other systems that don’t support proprietary attestation servers risk losing access to services. Control over digital identity effectively passes to EU regulators and major IT companies, and users’ choice becomes limited to a list of “approved” platforms.
As of publication, the project is still at the discussion stage; we’re following its development.
Most Americans Support Social Media Controls
A joint Reuters and Ipsos poll showed that 61% of U.S. residents want to tighten social media regulation. Among Republicans, 62% supported the idea; among Democrats, 71%.
A majority of respondents — 66% — favor laws that would require platforms to verify age and close off access to children under 16. Republicans backed this measure especially actively — 74%.
At the same time, 85% consider social media harmful to teens’ mental health, yet keep using it themselves: 70% call time there enjoyable, and only 35% call it stressful.
Illinois Requires Age Verification at the App Store and OS Level
State Governor JB Pritzker signed law HB5511: starting in 2028, device, operating system, and app store makers must request a date of birth when an account is created and transmit it in encrypted form.
Drawing on this data, apps will automatically restrict the feed for minors, hide the profile and block messages from adults, as well as mask geolocation and turn off notifications at night. Violations carry a fine of up to $50,000.
No exceptions are provided for open-source systems like Linux.
Mongolia Banned Social Media in Schools Starting September 1
Teachers, students, and parents can no longer run chats and pages. The goal is to reduce screen dependence and improve children’s online safety.
New Zealand Is Preparing a Social Media Ban for Children
The country’s government introduced a bill that would prohibit children under 16 from registering on social media and using it. Platforms would be required to verify age and block minors. The authorities explain the initiative as a concern for mental health and a desire to reduce the influence of algorithms on teens.
The document provides for fines for companies that break the rules, as well as the option to block services. The bill will become part of a broad strategy to “protect children in the digital environment.”
Kazakhstan’s President Endorses Age-Based Internet Restrictions
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the current law protecting children from harmful information, passed in 2018, “requires a serious update in light of modern digital threats.”
In addition, Tokayev ordered stronger filtering of internet content for minors and a scale-up of the rollout of mandatory children’s SIM cards
Earlier, the government submitted to parliament a bill providing for a ban on social media registration for users under 16.
Pashinyan Proposes Banning Anonymous Accounts
Armenia’s prime minister floated the idea of a legislative ban on anonymous social media accounts as part of a discussion of the government’s five-year program.
He proposed creating a working group together with opposition factions to discuss a mechanism for mandatory user identification. The idea sparked debate: supporters consider it a step toward transparency, critics — a threat to freedom of speech and privacy.
The Month’s Large-Scale Blackouts and Shutdowns
In August, network outages and connection degradation in various corners of the world happened because of natural disasters, power grid problems, and technical inspections at key infrastructure sites.
August 2: Wildfires in the U.S.
In Spokane County, Washington, internet connection quality degraded — up to a full shutdown. The cause was a mass evacuation of the population and a power outage in areas hit by a fast-spreading wildfire.
August 5–6: Hydroelectric Plant Diagnostics in Georgia
The country had yet another large-scale internet outage, caused by a power cutoff during checks and diagnostics of the Enguri Hydroelectric Plant’s systems. According to locals, this is already the third such incident in two weeks.
August 10: Internet Outages in Western Colombia
The outages happened amid a 7.4 magnitude earthquake.
August 15: A Cascading Blackout in Central Asia
A sharp power surge in Central Asia’s Unified Power Grid triggered protective automation and forced the grids into isolated operation.
The blackout hit Almaty, Shymkent, and the Almaty region, and also affected the capitals of neighboring countries — Bishkek and Dushanbe
Kazakh mobile operators, including Kcell and Beeline, confirmed a direct link between the power outage and network disruptions.
Corporate Control and Censorship
A lawsuit against Apple over the handover of user data. Former Apple engineer Toby Bordman sued the company for wrongful termination. The specialist refused to hand users’ device IMEI and serial numbers to AT&T without their consent and over an unsecured channel. After his complaints, Bordman’s lawyers were fired under the pretext of low productivity. Apple denies the accusations; the trial is set for 2027.
Turkish opposition figures were blocked on X (Twitter). The social network’s administrators restricted access to the account of the campaign headquarters of Ekrem İmamoğlu — the mayor of Istanbul and an opposition presidential candidate in Turkey. The platform’s representatives said they did so under pressure from regulators and would try to challenge the blocking demand in court.
A Brief Telegram Ban on the App Store and a Simultaneous Outage in Two CIS Countries
The temporary removal of Telegram from the App Store on August 4. The messenger disappeared from Apple’s store worldwide for 90 minutes. Apple representatives claimed the cause was banned content involving children. Access was restored after Telegram blocked the offender and deleted the material. The messenger’s team commented on the situation on X (Twitter) with a Mark Twain quote:
A simultaneous Telegram outage in Russia and Kazakhstan on August 13. Both countries experienced a large-scale network failure at the same time. Detector404 recorded nearly identical graphs: a spike in user complaints and a complete drop in network availability began around 11:30–12:00 and continued until 15:00.
The nearly mirror-image nature of the graphs may point to a possible shared infrastructure cause of the outage or backbone problems with traffic routing in the region.
Results of the Month
August 2026 continued July’s trends: the tightening of age restrictions — now at the hardware level too — as well as the growing vulnerability of network infrastructure.
We track internet censorship and blocking around the world. Our digests draw in part on Amnezia Pulse data — connect to Amnezia Premium to help us put together the next issue.
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