One of the lessons from the COVID19 test was to determine how the population would respond to ridiculous government demands and, in particular, how long they could sustainably make those demands.

Armed with this information they've realized that locking down communications channels for "dissenters" is going to be key to keeping the compliance rate particularly high. Which will be necessary for their "15 minute cities" dream.

They've done their research here as they've realized that this requirement will most likely be flatly rejected precisely by the group they ultimately want to target with it, yet be flowery enough that NPCs will comply without question. You should note these age verification laws appearing at state and federal levels globally all at nearly the same time and all using the same languge.

The law is a tool which naturally expands itself. You'll also notice these laws are written so poorly that if they ever are adjudicated they could be construed to mean almost anything. The US First Amendment is the only bulwark but that will take 10 to 12 years to get fully settled through the Supreme Court. Which is more than enough time to meet their next most immediate goal.

Penning humanity into cages.