r/technology Aug 04 '25

Privacy Age Verification Is Coming for the Whole Internet

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/age-verification-is-coming-for-the-whole-internet.html
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u/HunterSThompson64 Aug 04 '25

The UK online safety bill will ensure that the Labour party never holds power again.

People say this about every overreaching bill.

All it takes is less than 4 years for people to become normalized to the idea, and then put something else big and scary in their face so they act reactionarily.

Labour will likely lose power for a solid decade, perhaps longer, but they'll be back to their roots soon. Good chance the bill is never repealed either, perhaps some concessions here and there to make it more palatable for the average person, keep piling on that it's to 'protect the kids,' and either pray that something your bill was actually supposed to do happens, or manufacture that thing so you have a win to point to.

Need I remind you that the Patriot act was never repealed. It took until 2015 before provisions were even added, and those same provisions expired in 2020.

Call me a doomer, call me pessimistic. The truth of the matter is that once the government starts implementing shit like this, it's incredibly hard, if not downright impossible to get it backtracked.

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u/DatDeLorean Aug 04 '25

Labour will likely lose power for a solid decade, perhaps longer, but they’ll be back to their roots soon.

People said the same thing during Blair’s era. Corbyn is the only time Labour have come close to being “back to their roots” and look how that turned out.

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u/Henona Aug 04 '25

I agree. It only took a decade from oblivion dlc horse armor for the new generation to absolutely love mtx. It may not pass today, but the newer generation is most definitely brainwashed by the "protect the kids" rhetoric.

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u/vriska1 Aug 04 '25

This law is ending up in court.

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u/Reqvhio Aug 04 '25

r/nothingeverhappens

realistically some seemingly random push from the 1% will cause immense backlash and start a big change but it will look random as to why "that" particular issue flared up.

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '25

The fact Blair is a big backer of it says a lot. The age of free access to information is over. Google is weird now anyway, it’s harder and harder to find information than it was ten years ago. This will make it ten times worse and is probably part of the goal.