Why Does Substack Think I’m Under 16?
A respectful open letter on automation, trust, and the risks of delegating sensitive human decisions to automated and opaque systems
You can also read this story on Medium and engage on that platform for an open dialogue in our community.
Dear Subscribers,
Happy Sunday from Down Under! I hope this message finds you well. This is Aiden MC. I believe most of you know me from Medium or Substack for years, especially my famous series called “Look What Aiden Found Today” with 351 episodes or regular onboarding packs for new writers of ILLUMINATION publications.
With the permission of Dr Yildiz, I am writing this post from the ILLUMINATION formal account as an administrator of the community publication because when I attempted to write an editorial bulletin and curation work for ILLUMINATION publications, Substack refused to let me log in or publish without confirming that I was over 16. I cannot even read anything on Substack now.
This was shocking. I have been driving in Australia, Europe, the US, and Asia for many years, and cops never stopped me, saying I look too young, as I don’t.
I will take the compliment from the Substack bot. Maintaining a youthful presence after years of writing, editing, curating, and teaching digital publishing, including creating a six-level Udemy course on the subject, feels like a small victory.
Still, the situation raised an eyebrow. Another platform, Medium, never asked me for proof of age, yet Substack decided today was the day. I also served Medium as a contractual Boost Nominator in 2023. Medium collected the necessary personal information to pay me, but it did not ask for my age.
That contrast made me curious about how platforms assess maturity, credibility, and trust, and why one long-form writing platform appears stricter than another.
What is more ironic is that I have accounts with social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, YouTube, and more, and none of them challenged me like Substack.
I also didn’t know Substack was considered social media like Instagram or Facebook. I joined Substack as a professional writer, editor, and curator.
What follows is a thoughtful reflection on that moment.
Please note that as a proud Australian, I’m very happy Australia has taken a bold step against the negative impacts of social media on young people by banning its use for users under 16. I know how toxic social media can be, as I discussed in my 2023 poignant story.
An Open Letter to Substack
Why Did You Think I Was a Teenager?
Dear Substack Team,
Today, I was unable to log in or publish on your platform as publication owner, and also as an editor, curator, and administrator of ILLUMINATION community publications because your system asked me to confirm that I am over 16 years old.
I understand why age verification exists. Safety matters. Protection matters. Responsible platforms must take this seriously, and I respect that intention.
At the same time, I want to share why this moment felt both flattering and concerning.
I have been contributing to Substack for years. During this time, I have written extensively, curated stories of other writers, edited the work of others, built communities, and supported writers across Australia and beyond.
I also teach a six-level Udemy course titled From Zero to Substack that explains how digital platforms, creator trust, and sustainable online presence actually work in practice. Subtack can see these 50+ videos as I uploaded there.
Do you seriously I look under 16 in these videos? Who decided I might be under 16 and triggered your bot restricted my access and forcing me to go through this verification process?
When I told this situation to my grandma today she said “How can a person under 16 find an audience of over 211,000+ subscribers on Substack with a bestseller badge?”
I also have an education series about Substack on Medium.
I smiled at first, then paused, with the strange feeling that an invisible system had been watching me a little too closely.
If curiosity, consistency, or creative energy triggered the check, I will happily accept the compliment. Youthful thinking is something many of us work hard to preserve.
Still, I could not ignore the deeper question this raised.
How does a platform that prides itself on long-form thinking, context, and creator trust arrive at the conclusion that one of its long-term contributors might be under 16?
Was it activity patterns?
Was it a profile image?
Was it an automated signal that lacks historical awareness?
Was it my Australian sense of humor in my stories or videos?
Was it I was into gaming, social media, and film-making?
I do not know, because the system does not explain itself. That lack of transparency matters. We need a clear explanation for this.
When platforms scale, automation becomes necessary. I know this well. Yet automation without context can quietly erode trust, especially when it overrides years of contribution, visibility, and accountability in a single moment.
Creators build their relationship with Substack through consistency, responsibility, and intellectual labor.
When that relationship is paused without explanation, even briefly, it creates friction where there was once confidence.
This open letter is not a complaint. It is an invitation to transparent communication. It is an invitation to reflect on how systems interpret identity, maturity, and credibility.
Please see this as an invitation to consider how long-term contributors are recognized by the same algorithms designed to protect the platform. And it is an invitation to balance safety with continuity, so creators do not feel reduced to a data point without a memory.
For the record, I am well over 16 working as a professional in Australia. I have been for a long time.
Substack has built something meaningful therefore I invest my time there. Moments like this are opportunities to make it even better with clear and honest communication.
More importantly, I care deeply about this platform and the creators who depend on it. Therefore I pour my heart and soul to my work on Substack. That is why I am writing this openly, thoughtfully, and with respect.
Conclusions: Kind Request to Respond to My Open Letter to Substack
As an Australian writer, this moment also prompted a genuine privacy concern. Age verification is important, and I respect the responsibility platforms carry. At the same time, the process matters.
When platforms infer age without explanation, creators are left uncertain about which data points or behavioral signals triggered that decision.
Under Australian privacy expectations, transparency around how personal data is used, inferred, and profiled becomes especially important when automated systems restrict access to a contributor’s own account, even briefly.
For that reason, I would welcome clarity on a few simple questions.
What criteria are used to assess age for existing contributors? Are these decisions based on information creators explicitly provide, inferred behavior, or automated profiling?
And how does Substack ensure these processes align with Australian privacy principles around transparency, necessity, and fairness?
Clear answers to questions like these help maintain trust between platforms and long-term contributors.
They also strengthen the relationship Substack has built with creators who value both safety and open, thoughtful dialogue.
With appreciation, curiosity, and hope for an open dialogue,
Aiden
For readers, here is the position of Substack which was linked to the verification process shown in this screen capture when I received the restriction today.
So if I decide to join this verification process, a company called Persona will process and keep my biometric information for seven days as showing the following screen capture. I wonder what I did to deserve this unnecessary stress.
I wonder whether this automated system will also restrict other Australian writers like our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz or senior curator Dr Mike Broadly. Of course they might not look or sound as young as I do.
Thank you for reading my story. If you have faced such situations please share your experiences and thoughts in the comment section. Hoping Substack team can leave a comment on this story or contact me via email. If they do, I will update this story. Stay tuned.
If you are interested in Substack as a creator, you are welcome to check out my courses on Udemy, leveraging the Substack Mastery books of Dr Mehmet Yildiz, my mentor and chief editor of ILLUMINATION publications on Medium, Substack, and Patreon. Here are the discount vouchers for December:
From Zero to Substack Hero — Level 1
From Zero to Substack Hero — Level 2
From Zero to Substack Hero — Level 3
From Zero to Substack Hero — Level 4, 5, and 6 Bundle [NEW]
And we also completed a new course titled Patreon Mastery.
You can learn about it from this Patreon story by Dr Yildiz: What If Your Creativity Could Fund Your Financial Freedom for a Lifetime?
If you are a new reader, check out some of my most loved stories from different topics in my writing collection on this platform.
Gaming, Fun, and Humor: The Lifelines That Rescued Me From Social Media’s Grip on My Life
What Car Shows Mean to Me and How They Enriched My Life
Finding Comfort in Blocks: How Minecraft Eased My First Time Loneliness and Intense Grief at 17
A Movie Makers Oscar Predictions
AI Can Now Create Photorealistic Videos From Just a Text Prompt
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If an AI system can make such an implausible error about someone so clearly known and embedded in the platform, then it has no business being trusted with serious human decisions about access, identity, and privacy.
I wrote a detailed story about your situation, Aiden. I hope Substack listens and take actions. Here is the link to my story on Medium today:
Why I Don’t Trust an Unreliable AI Bot and Why Substack Needs an Exception Process, Urgently!
Before it gets too late, Substack, as a democratic platform, needs to act to protect its reputation and support its precious creators.
Why the f*ck should I prove myself to a bot that I am an adult!
https://medium.com/illumination/why-i-dont-trust-an-unreliable-ai-bot-and-why-subs[…]exception-process-urgently-eb1022037615?postPublishedType=repub
Hi Aiden, thank you for writing this timely story so thoughtfully. I would like to add some perspective as someone who understands both platform dynamics and local legal requirements.
Please do not take this personally. I am confident Substack did not act deliberately or with intent. It is a large platform operated by a relatively small team, and it simply does not have the capacity to know the background of every contributor. Based on the document you linked, this capability appears to be outsourced to a third party.
That is where the real issue often arises. Many of these third parties rely on fraud detection and age-verification tools that are still emerging and imperfect. They tend to act conservatively to protect their contractual obligations and, by extension, the platforms they serve. In doing so, they sometimes overcorrect.
Given how new this situation is, I believe Substack will learn how to handle exceptions like yours more thoughtfully over time. No human reviewer would reasonably conclude you are under 16, especially considering the many public videos and materials you have shared through reputable organizations.
Knowing you personally, I can confidently support that view. I am glad you wrote this piece. If this can happen to you, it can certainly happen to other writers in Australia and the UK. Your story helps surface an issue that deserves attention and improvement. I will try to create a support ticket on your behalf so that you don't have to share too much personal information with third-party organizations overseas that you might not trust.
I know the pain as Facebook accidentally suspended my account, and the only way was to give my personally identifiable government ID for them to unsuspend my account.
Best wishes and take good care!