Age verification laws like the UK’s Online Safety Act are meant to protect children from harmful content, but they also increase the risks of surveillance and an internet that’s not anonymous. But what is age verification, and will it do more harm than good?
The youth will find different places.
People who are woke towards surveillance and keeping their identity safe will stop using these services and find different places.
Whats left is a mass of users who all demonstrate a vulnerability towards their identity and thoughtless compliance.
If you where a scam artist and where looking for potential victims, you are more likely to find them on Facebook then on Lemmy.
If a sick but privacy aware person preys on kids, are they going to look on mainstream secured platforms or are they going to find those new places the youth are going to?
If a government wanted to make social media less powerful and keep the threat of shared social unrest under control without without relying to much on banning and directly excluding users, would it not be convenient if many of those critical voices chose to stay away or silent in order to not expose themselves?