Age verification proposals are often presented as a simple tradeoff: sacrifice a little privacy to better safeguard children online. But that framing overlooks a more fundamental question. What happens to people who cannot verify their age at all?
    • SharkBait@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      1·
      6 hours ago

      It is. You’re using social media right now. So is IRC if you think about it. Anything with a “message component” that “exchanges user submitted information between other users” or whatever can be classified as social media.

      Under that definition, it’s very easy to group things such as forums, github/gitlab/whatever. Now you can’t even voice complaints or get and help build source code to resist.

      Fuck age verification laws. Anything less than calling it encroachment on liberty and democracy itself is boot licking.

  • DeLacue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    24 hours ago

    They care as much about the people who can’t verify as they do for the kids they proclaim to protect. UK age law restricts kids (and anyone who does not identify themselves) from seeing or discussing sensitive topics like Palestine. Given how the UK government has gone after Pro-Palestine activists, it makes sense why many of them might not want to identify themselves. If age verification was truly enforced worldwide it could stifle any and all discussions about sensitive topics. It’s like a child has been seriously hurt on the playground and their response is to child-proof every path, shop, road, park, forest trail and public space. It’s never been about the kids.

    • BabyVi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      21 hours ago

      I feel like forcing kids to identify themselves online is just gonna allow predators to locate and exploit them easier. Which might be an unspoken motivation for some of the powerful people pushing these laws.

    • jimmy90@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      19 hours ago

      you can still access and participate in almost all non-porn forums without ID

      stop lying

      • lastlybutfirstly@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        18 hours ago

        Porn has always been the canary in the coal mine.

        Also, from my understanding, OSA in the UK requires ID for any site where people can talk and share videos and photos with each other. Urban Dead shut down because of it. I’m pretty sure the Fediverse servers running there are concerned about it. I’m curious to hear how they’ve been dealing with it?

        And Texas and other many other states are planning to implement similar laws to OSA. Even with just the current laws, Texans can’t even access many porn sites because they just flat out block IPs from there to avoid any possible problems at all.

        This carpet bombing strategy to protect the kids is going to destroy the Internet of old. Only major corporations with a team of lawyers and a war chest to deal with corporate-sized fines will be able to start a forum. And to protect their investment they will convince the government and the people that the Fediverse is dangerous. “The Pedoverse is where pedophiles, terrorists, racists, and other ‘mah freedomz’ freaks hang out. The only safe place to be is at Walmart Social Network. See plans starting at $9.99 a month*”