age-gate

or age gate

[ eyj-geyt ]

verb (used with or without object)

, age-gat·ed, age-gat·ing.

1. to restrict a user's access to (a website, app, or type of content) if they are under a certain age:

   The website age-gates videos that have been marked mature.

   The law would require all internet providers to age-gate in some form.

noun

, plural age-gates.

1. a digital form designed to restrict a user's access to a website, app, or type of content if what they input indicates that they are under a certain age:

   Users are required to be at least 13 years old, but younger kids can easily sidestep the age-gate by using a false birthday.

Word History and Origins

Origin of age-gate¹

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

“Regulate it, put it on the shelves near beer, wine or hard seltzer, age-gate it, and tax it like an adult beverage, regulate it like an adult beverage. And everybody wins.”

From Los Angeles Times

But news site Tech Crunch suggested it might require social-media companies "age verifying all users and thereby putting the British social web behind a universal age-gate".

From BBC

It will allow future gaming videos that include scripted or simulated violence to possibly be approved directly without an age-gate.

From The Verge

YouTube does "age-gate" to block children who identify themselves as under 13 from starting an account that allows users to post videos, but an account isn't needed to watch videos on the platform.

From Los Angeles Times

YouTube does “age-gate” to block children who identify themselves as under 13 from starting an account that allows users to post videos, but an account isn’t needed to watch videos on the platform.

From Washington Times