It was a requirement from the beginning but it was not enforced due to the initial server issues. It was always there…
Not saying it’s a good thing but a lot of the discourse I see online seems to overlook that crucial detail and imply this was pulled out of the blue with no warning.
The pedophile friend in question did not hide their preference for minors from Mr Beast at all. One anedoctal evidence being they had a commissioned drawing of a pre pubescent girl with sexual overtones on their living room which Mr Beast saw several times.