Should the internet be age-gated and ID verified?
So recently the EU implemented digital age verification that caused people to figure out that they could use Death Stranding's photo mode to get around the verification process (lol).
The USA is about to start implementing something similar and Apple is supporting age verification through things like Verify with Wallet API.
The internet has always been the place of "freedom" and safe haven for folks, is this step towards verification something that might eventually change that into a more restricted digital knowledge base?
I'm totally in agreement with moderating how content can be distributed so it's safe for children but for some reason something feels a little off to me about this. I'm curious what everyone thinks!
How do you think these type of policies will impact our future ability to interact with the digital world?
Replies
Its a tough one thats for sure. Kids will find ever more ingenuous ways around it. But I am so glad I didn't grow up with what kids have access to now. I am also rather relived that I don't have any kids of my own as I think I would be in a constant state of terror. My friends with kids tell me that their kids are much more savvy now and they know to look out for fake stuff of line, and this is their world and they have to be ready for it, but age is very relevant for a lot of things, not least porn and the internet is still too wild. Something is def needed, I just don't know what! But for sure the "theys" are looking for many way to monitor us. Get you tinfoil hats ready everyone.
The only way to evaluate this will be in a decade-or-more's time.
Generally, this will lead to even more chokepoint capitalism — where a small number of players control the on-ramps to the internet in the name of "child safety". But there's no reason why those controls won't, once established, move upstream to adults.
Consider the legislation passing to inhibit access to porn by adults.
The problem with these rules is that they pour grease onto a slippery cultural slope towards repression, censorship, and thought-control.
George Orwell warned us.
Next step: needing a passport just to open Google?
Eternal AI
I get the safety angle, but the internet I grew up with was about anonymity and exploration. Losing that feels like a big cultural shift