New U.S laws designed to protect minors are pulling millions of adult Americans into mandatory age-verification gates to access online content, leading to backlash from users and criticism from privacy advocates that a free and open internet is at stake. Roughly half of U.S. states have enacted or are advancing laws requiring platforms — including adult content sites, online gaming services, and social media apps — to block underage users, forcing companies to screen everyone who approaches these digital gates.
Yeah, that headline is incorrect. The laws are there specifically to surveil adults, “for child safety” is a smokescreen justification. This isn’t a “we tried to do a good thing, but there’s this unfortunate side effect,” the surveillance was the goal.
No reason it can’t be both.
Sure, no reason it couldn’t be, other than it isn’t.
If they wanted to actually protect children, they’d be arresting the pedophiles, not forcing everyone to identify themselves on the Internet.
Remember that “they” (at least here in the US) are as varied in opinion as are we.
The ones who have a sincere desire to protect children want them to have limited exposure to content online.
My personal thought is children should generally not be engaging others online, but it should be a social push (“don’t talk to strangers online” “don’t allow your children to be unsupervised online” ).
As for arresting child abusers, we seem to be in the habit of putting them in high office.
Those people should probably start parenting their own children instead of begging for the government to do it for them, then.
And yes, it’s usually the same people.
Children shouldn’t be on Reddit or Lemmy. And if anyone disagrees, they better not be complaining about idiots on those platforms.
My statements are about participation, not about how the enforcement should be handled.
I agree, children shouldn’t be on tiktok or any of these kinds of platforms.
And yes, it should be social pressure rather than legal pressure.
Parents who care are doing that. The amount of parents who don’t give a fuck and will just put their id in for their kids to watch porn would shock you. Shit the amount of them that would sell their kids to sex slavery is higher than you probably think.
Fuck this law they don’t give a fuck about kids.
When I was younger, there use to be “public service announcements” on TV that provided education for the kids and adults watching.
If politicians truly cared about the children, then Trump and half his administration would have been strung up by their thumbs at this point. It’s not about the children.
Politicians are humans, just like us (with MAYBE just a larger helping of narcism). They’re also required to work within the law.
I understand the reason I’m getting down votes. We’re in a really really frustrating time. Lots of angry people (me too).
The ones listed are not working within the law. They raped children.
Law…politicians don’t seem to be following them these days. They seem more like Judge Dredd finding out the law is more a suggestion when it comes to themselves. Being able to even start wars without calling it one.
Past year has seemed more like people going, but that’s against the law you can’t do that. And them going okay who’s going to stop us the courts? That’s for peasants.
What exactly has caused the outrage and need to identify the users age today? Why do we need this law now?
It isn’t both.