Australians to face age checks from search engines • Hacker News Board

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#31

Post by bamboozled » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:25 AM UTC

jp0d wrote: post #20

abtinf wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They all act like they're living in soviet russia Nothing says “not living in Soviet Russia” like having to show your papers to access information.

what's the alternative? Is it really information or misinformation?

We failed to give the kids the skills to think critically (because that's not in the ruling classes best interest), so now, to keep the population under some form of governability, information has to be restricted so people don't end up destroying their own society. Nice.

I agree though, most information is misinformation, even the most popular stuff, Joe Rogan et al.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#32

Post by OhioMan2943 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:26 AM UTC

CamperBob2 wrote: post #19

OhioMan2943 wrote: post #10

As an australian citizen i'm all for it. Look at how the internet and social media has destroyed our current youth and their naivety and sense of emotional security. They all act like they're living in soviet russia at this point and have become so hard and jaded. Better I give a little bit of pii than some kid grows up too early. Would you be able to tell the difference if this policy came from a place of compassion…

Better I give a little bit of pii than some kid grows up too early. And at no point does it ever occur to you to demand proof that measures such as this will have the desired effect... or, indeed, that the desired effect is indeed worth achieving at all.

Oh no the government and the isp know what the average non tech savvy australian is searching- this is unprecedented!

I am for anonymous tokens ideally but something is still better than nothing

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#33

Post by knifie_spoonie » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:26 AM UTC

jp0d wrote: post #20

abtinf wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They all act like they're living in soviet russia Nothing says “not living in Soviet Russia” like having to show your papers to access information.

what's the alternative? Is it really information or misinformation?

Education.

I really wish all this time, effort, and money was spent on educating our kids to safely navigate the online world.

It's not like they'll magically figure it out for themselves once they turn 17.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#34

Post by frollogaston » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:27 AM UTC

jp0d wrote: post #20

abtinf wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They all act like they're living in soviet russia Nothing says “not living in Soviet Russia” like having to show your papers to access information.

what's the alternative? Is it really information or misinformation?

I remember when any anti-Iraq-invasion material was considered "misinformation" in the US. Wonder how it went in Australia, since they were also very involved.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#35

Post by bamboozled » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:27 AM UTC

abtinf wrote: post #26

jp0d wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's the alternative? Is it really information or misinformation?

> misinformation Nothing screams “not living in Soviet Russia” like having a ministry of truth.

So is being fed propaganda 24/7, the KGB seems to be winning by reading some of these comments.

I don't see kids being banned from reading history books, which would be more like the world you're describing, I see a country which is pretty multicultural and open minded trying it's best to protect itself from the absolute nonsense that circulates online. When I was a kid, I could only watch certain TV shows because my bed time was 7:30-8pm, that's when the "naughty stuff" came on TV. Was that the ministry of truth at work?

Do you have any idea what kids are exposed to now ? I mean the answer is probably, no, you have no idea. But judging by the rot I see my younger friends and family members watch and regurgitate, I can tell you, it's not great.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#36

Post by jp0d » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:27 AM UTC

abtinf wrote: post #26

jp0d wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's the alternative? Is it really information or misinformation?

> misinformation Nothing screams “not living in Soviet Russia” like having a ministry of truth.

> “not living in Soviet Russia”

Nothing screams "fear mongering" like comparing with living in Soviet Russia.

Look, we can argue all day. There is no right or wrong answer. I don't fully support the govts initiative but I also don't want Meta/X/Google to have unlimited powers like they do in the US.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#37

Post by CamperBob2 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:27 AM UTC

OhioMan2943 wrote: post #32

CamperBob2 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better I give a little bit of pii than some kid grows up too early. And at no point does it ever occur to you to demand proof that measures such as this will have the desired effect... or, indeed, that the desired effect is indeed worth achieving at all.

Oh no the government and the isp know what the average non tech savvy australian is searching- this is unprecedented! I am for anonymous tokens ideally but something is still better than nothing

Oh no the government and the isp know what the average non tech savvy australian is searching- this is unprecedented!

You probably should have started your censorship campaign with the usual bugaboos -- comics, video games, porno mags -- and not with history books.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#38

Post by OhioMan2943 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:28 AM UTC

marcus_holmes wrote: post #24

2025: if you're logged in, then we check your age to see if you can do or see some stuff 2027: the companies providing the logins must provide government with the identities 2028: because VPNs are being used to circumvent the law, if the logging entity knows you're an Australian citizen, even if you're not in Australia or using an Aussie IP address then they must still apply the law 2030: you must be logged in to vis…

If only there was a name for this fallacy. Something slope something

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#39

Post by jp0d » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:30 AM UTC

knifie_spoonie wrote: post #33

jp0d wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's the alternative? Is it really information or misinformation?

Education. I really wish all this time, effort, and money was spent on educating our kids to safely navigate the online world. It's not like they'll magically figure it out for themselves once they turn 17.

Totally agree with this.

Re: Australians to face age checks from search engines

#40

Post by bamboozled » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 1:33 AM UTC

hilbert42 wrote: post #13

A resident of said country here. Another questionable measure by Government to protect our mollycoddled, insufficiently-resilient society. That said, a better approach would be to limit kids under certain age from owning smartphones with full internet access. Instead, they could have a phone without internet access—dumb phones—or ones with curated/limited access. Personally, I'm not too worried about what risqué stuf…

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