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Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

mullvad.net

21–30 of 561 posts

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#21
There isn't much left of the free Internet anyway. Search engines no longer work, all discussion forums are ranked/censored by interest groups, mail delivery is between large entities.

Maybe we need an alternative set of root servers for a free Internet.

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#22
post #7
post #2

Good arguments there, and for once addressing privacy-preserving age verification. I just don't like that proponents of age verification are systematically (including in this article) dismissed as authoritarians hiding behind "just another “what about the children” excuse to introduce mass surveillance and censorship". Many people genuinely want to find a solution that is better for the children, and telling them "if…

> Many people genuinely want to find a solution that is better for the children at the expense of everyone and everything else all to not have to be an actual parent. These arguments are not coming from places of concern, they are coming from laziness and people taking advantage of that laziness to further even worse agendas.

[deleted]

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#23
Growing up I remember all the ads about avoiding narcotics talking about getting hooked on free samples and then going to jail for theft and/or possession. The people behind that propaganda didn't know drugs do cost money, dealers being dorky teens and twenty-somethings who are about as dangerous as a butterfly. But this propaganda also illustrates how some elements aren't very bright. The internet age with free email, free social media, etc. got everyone hooked and now Zuckerberg, et al. are giving doe-eyed, hat-in-hand, and crying poverty. If people were wise to those PSAs, past and present, they'd see how the loyal opposition has been playing with their cards face-up on the table under the guise of good intentions. Much like the pedophile scare during the teens, pun unintended, with Comet Ping Pong and then come 2024 it's revealed Epstein and his cadre of deviant cronies were doing it all along while deflecting poorly to innocent parties. Goodness knows what else is still right in front of our noses but their reality hasn't come to fruition in the zeitgest.

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people genuinely want to find a solution that is better for the children, and telling them "if you are open to age verification you are either a fascist or a moron" is not constructive. We know they'll take a mile if you give them an inch. Ditto with "trusted" computing and the rest of that wormcan. That's why the opposition has to be absolute.

Who is this "they" you speak of? We have age verification for all kinds of things that can harm minors. Most of them have adequate penalties for breach such that operators of said harms ensure they comply (checks for ID when selling alcohol, entry to over-18s pubs/clubs, etc.) There's nothing sinister going on here, just attempts to prevent social/mental harm to minors.

> There's nothing sinister going on here

There absolutely is you're just not aware of it.

This whole thing is meta financially backing right wing conservative groups that want age verification because meta wants to avoid liability for the harms their platforms cause.

In addition, this is the beginning of the end of any sort of anonymity on the internet, which has disastrous consequences for politically minded individuals, minority populations, or targets of stalking. This is a privacy nightmare bring pushed through in the guise of "muh children".

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you believe people should be able to traverse the internet anonymously?

You can't. Even if you haven't registered or logged in, companies like Facebook have identified you and track you everywhere you go.

[dead]

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#27

EU law gives every citizen a right to a bank account. I wonder if EU law could give every citizen a right to a google or Apple account, including a forced recovery option if the account is 'deactivated'? If at some point such an account becomes essential to function in society, access to such an account becomes a legal mandate.

I mean, try getting a job without an email account and a cell phone number.

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#28
>and that you can no longer post anonymously on social media. You cannot be certain that your criticism of the government will not be followed up by the authorities.

sorry but I don't get this point. If you're on Instagram or Facebook, did you think fifteen different three letter agencies weren't already watching you? It has the word 'face' in the name, the entire point of that site is that people mindlessly share their personal information, it's not some underground space for activists.

You can be perfectly anonymous on the internet, but demanding to be anonymous on Facebook is like trying to start a Das Kapital book club at Goldman Sachs or decrying commercial culture while you're in a Disneyland theme park

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#29
post #21

There isn't much left of the free Internet anyway. Search engines no longer work, all discussion forums are ranked/censored by interest groups, mail delivery is between large entities. Maybe we need an alternative set of root servers for a free Internet.

And content is increasingly produced for, and by, machines. Human initiative and/or access is increasingly incidental.

It's easy to create an alternative. The problem isn't that, it's keeping that alternative clanker-free. (As well as free of all the other enemies / plauges on the useful, generative, Internet.)

Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?

#30
post #21

There isn't much left of the free Internet anyway. Search engines no longer work, all discussion forums are ranked/censored by interest groups, mail delivery is between large entities. Maybe we need an alternative set of root servers for a free Internet.

Already exists: Opennic.org
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