Proposal for Age Verification on Forums to Improve Content Quality

Hello Chess.com Team and Community,
I currently have an active discussion in the "Off-Topic" (OTF) forum about improving the quality of forum content, but wanted to bring the core idea here for formal review and consideration.

The Issue:
The forums, particularly the OTF, are frequently inundated with low-quality, spammy, or borderline-inappropriate threads ("Will you kiss the person above you?", repetitive memes, non-English posts, etc.). This makes the forums a frustrating experience for mature members of the community and increases the burden on moderators.

My Proposal: Verified Forum Access
Instead of relying solely on reactive content moderation, I propose implementing a one-time, mandatory age verification step specifically for access to the public forums.

How it works: Users would need to verify their age (e.g., via a secure third-party ID verification service) to gain forum posting privileges. Playing chess on the site would remain unrestricted and accessible to all ages.

Target: This is intended to filter out users who violate the terms of service (under 13 in many jurisdictions) and those who are more likely to create low-effort, trolling content.

Why this is better than just moderating content:
Proactive vs. Reactive: Verification stops the problematic content at the source, rather than having moderators clean up the mess after exposure.
Reduces Moderator Burden: By filtering out many problematic users upfront, staff can focus on the truly complex moderation issues.
Ensures Compliance: It helps the site better adhere to regulations like COPPA by ensuring true parental consent or age verification for social features.
I believe this is a necessary step to maintain a higher standard for community interaction on Chess.com. I would appreciate the team's feedback on the feasibility of implementing this.
Thank you for your time.

- xOTPx