The whole thing is wrongheaded in the first place; any child wanting to access adult-only content will use an adult’s account to do so; any adult attempting to access adult-only content is likewise going to use an adult’s account.
So unless they’re tying this to biometrics that are actually secure against an adverserial child, all the system really does is creates a registry of adults. And we already have those.
Experts say law not enough to stop children accessing harmful content online and more ‘convincing strategy is required’ . More than 80% of under-16s in Australia said they were still using social media three months after legislation banning them from it came into force, research shows.
It’s like any controlled substance ban — unless there’s a really invasive crack-down it just shifts the problem to a less safe black market.
Making things easy and safe to access with controls that are adjustable is always more effective than an outright ban that shifts the access fully into unregulated territory.
Creating a registry of adults and what content they access is exactly the point of these laws. Always has been. “Protecting children” is just the easiest excuse to make it seem more urgent to violate people’s rights. Just like removing trans healthcare started with children and is now targeting adults.
But in most cases, it is, because most adults are not that technically inclined to get around the logins. Sure there are some tech savvy ones who will bypass it. And maybe a few kids who will use their parents’ accounts rather than just bypassing the logins but it’s still the family accessing the information, but for the majority, it does work as a registry. And though it’s only on a few categories of sites now, the categories inevitably will expand. It’s not just porn, but info on reproductive and gender healthcare, LGBTQ+ dating, and many other subjects that “children must me protected from”, but really they want to know who’s gay, looking for abortions or transgender healthcare or information about whatever other rights their government is trying to force them to give up.
The whole thing is wrongheaded in the first place; any child wanting to access adult-only content will use an adult’s account to do so; any adult attempting to access adult-only content is likewise going to use an adult’s account.
So unless they’re tying this to biometrics that are actually secure against an adverserial child, all the system really does is creates a registry of adults. And we already have those.
Wasn’t there something about the effectiveness of the Australian law to restrict minors on social media? Ah…
Four in five under-16s in Australia using social media despite ban, study shows
It’s like any controlled substance ban — unless there’s a really invasive crack-down it just shifts the problem to a less safe black market.
Making things easy and safe to access with controls that are adjustable is always more effective than an outright ban that shifts the access fully into unregulated territory.
Creating a registry of adults and what content they access is exactly the point of these laws. Always has been. “Protecting children” is just the easiest excuse to make it seem more urgent to violate people’s rights. Just like removing trans healthcare started with children and is now targeting adults.
Thing is, it doesn’t create a registry of what content adults access. Just what content their registered identity accesses.
But in most cases, it is, because most adults are not that technically inclined to get around the logins. Sure there are some tech savvy ones who will bypass it. And maybe a few kids who will use their parents’ accounts rather than just bypassing the logins but it’s still the family accessing the information, but for the majority, it does work as a registry. And though it’s only on a few categories of sites now, the categories inevitably will expand. It’s not just porn, but info on reproductive and gender healthcare, LGBTQ+ dating, and many other subjects that “children must me protected from”, but really they want to know who’s gay, looking for abortions or transgender healthcare or information about whatever other rights their government is trying to force them to give up.
I think it’s going up be biometric related