Post #1214140
2026-04-16 20:31 UTC
@Hiltibrant @manlycoffee Yeah but showing a physical ID card to a teller is a very different proposal than the dystopian (and entirely ineffective) age verification systems. Kids have been bypassing web restrictions since time immemorial. How do you think we went to Newgrounds on school computers 15 or 20 years ago, because they let us? We just brought Firefox Portable onthumb drives, or went through proxies.
None of this has anything to do with protecting children. Politicians have been using that line to have their way forever, and they get away with it because it's a different set of parents each time and humanity collectively has a short memory (which is why it's currently 1939 again in the ol' US of A).
Replies (2)
-
@gordoooo_z@hachyderm.io 2026-04-16 20:38
@Hiltibrant @manlycoffee The other difference is that you can't take the ethanol out of liquor or the THC out of cannabis (well you can, but that defeats the purpose for the vast majority of users in both cases). Social media doesn't need to be the way it is, but another lesson we keep having to learn the hard way (which is why it's also currently 1929 in the ol' yadda yadda) is that businesses will go right up to the line, and maybe even quite a bit past it, so you have to regulate if you don't want them dumping PCBs in your local kiddy pool.
-
@manlycoffee@techhub.social 2026-04-16 21:00
@gordoooo_z @Hiltibrant You pretty much nailed it why I don't like age-based bans on social media.