There are lots of biased meta-analyses that have gained sway in popular news articles recently. There is also a neo-temperance movement that some scientists who participated in these studies are a part of. Science isn't as unbiased or objective as many people think it is, but people who think they're smart for "listening to the scientists" are easily deceived, because they don't bother critically examining claims that are apparently scientific.
It's a case of mutually assured destruction: to charge someone with impersonation, they would have to admit that they saved data that was supposed to be only for age verification and then deleted.
Apparently they're doing it to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act. But they're doing it in the USA too.