Americans, Be Warned: Lessons From Reddit’s Chaotic UK Age Verification Rollout

eff.org

Posted by sovereign in Privacy (edited by a moderator )

Age verification has officially arrived in the UK thanks to the Online Safety Act (OSA), a UK law requiring online platforms to check that all UK-based users are at least eighteen years old before allowing them to access broad categories of “harmful” content that go far beyond graphic sexual content.

EFF has extensively criticized the OSA for eroding privacy, chilling speech, and undermining the safety of the children it aims to protect. Now that it’s gone into effect, these countless problems have begun to reveal themselves, and the absurd, disastrous outcome illustrates why we must work to avoid this age-verified future at all costs.

6

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

lina wrote

i believe similar laws are introduced only because the current parents are unable to limit their kids computer access. similar laws weren't needed in 90s because everyone's parent taken good care of their kids and limited how much screen time they had. Of Course there are some people who didn't have such parents but everywhere are exceptions. Just since parents don't have time to take care of their kids they just given up on actually parenting then politicians use similar laws as trojan horse to more censorship

heres the circle: corporations want more money so they raise the cost of their products(houses etc...) -> people want to buy such products but dont have enough money for it -> start working in multiple jobs -> not enough time to parent&raise kids -> politicians make laws that censor internet so kids stay safe(in theory) -> leads to censorship, abuse of power, then banning critics -> less regulation for companies passes because people dont know actual the truth -> more money for corporations -> time for another circle?

3

ViFlud wrote

I'm too lazy to read this huge post, but in general, it's better for children (under 12) not to touch the Internet at all, let them hang out lol.

1

Matrix_phoenix wrote

These laws have nothing to do with protecting children.

It is 100% only about censorship and controlling what every person in a country can say online.

These laws need to be repealed and fought against by every human on earth, or there will be no country worth living in.

5

ViFlud wrote

if anything, excuse my English, I'm not a native speaker

1

Saint_Cuthbert wrote

One thing that I would like to note is that the government(s) is largely content to watch unlawful behavior and do nothing. The law enforcement in one place I used to live used (likely and/or certainly) stingrays (probably) and radars (certainly) to watch people inside their homes. There were plenty of people they could have gone after for various offenses ranging from speeding to drug manufacture, but they rarely used their surveillance capabilities to do anything about those crimes.

In the US, the federal agencies have required the serialization of firearms, the registration of certain firearms, and also keep track of people's credit card purchase history of create a de-facto registry based on what bullets people buy. They would be hard pressed to do anything about firearm ownership in general in that part of the world, but they are keen on tracking what people have to make selective confiscation easier. They may not "come for your guns" unless you give them a reason, such as using medical marijuana or having PTSD. This would allow easing toward a Europe-style government control of all firearms and the death of any guarantee of freedom.

The age verification law in the UK is likely for the purpose of identifying opposition and using zersetzung-style tactics to cracking down on those who oppose them. http://wikiless.i2p/wiki/zersetzung?lang=en In the past they have been content to simply imprison those who organize the opposition.

1