Basically the EU is forcing me to create a Google account. For privacy reasons I don't use one to watch videos and I am certainly not providing an ID. So for European users non-compliant video platforms are preferable for any controversial content (Any platform will err on the side of caution when flagging content, as are users).
This is governance done wrong. Severely wrong. Your 12 year olds will find a way to content, probably on sites that are "worse" than Youtube. For Europeans everything on Youtube is now Youtube Kids.
Is creating a google account more arduous than before? I've created dozens of them (including for my kids, where I had to be less than truthful about their age), and I have never had to provide an — OMFG I HAD NOT EXPANDED THE "If you're in the EU..." LINK!
I also like to not create an account because I enjoy non-profiled search. I dislike getting served the same mush over and over. But that is just a preference.
But yeah, the real problem is that we got age filter no. 4523.
There are alternative ways, but this should work for anyone currently affected:
That is true, but I don't think there is a necessity of having an account (aside from the EU forcing age checks) and I don't really want Google drawing conclusion about my viewing behavior either. I don't believe these options will prohibit Google from profiling you.
Definitely, it only disables the client-visible effects of tracking. But I don't think one can avoid the hidden part by watching without a Google account either.
Even if not, creating more accounts increases your exposure to Google's faulty moderation infrastructure, multiplying the probability that all of your accounts get banned. Probably nonlinearly, since more accounts under same address makes you look more like a bot.
A 12 year old is going to sneak a picture of their parent's credit card or ID when they are busy and not paying attention. Or an older sibling's ID. Or share a photo of a valid ID among their friends.
>Youtube does not age restrict many videos, it's seriously hard finding one that's neither gore nor porn and still age restricted.
I was going to post a link to a song based on the "All your base are belong to us" meme on another site, but it was, for some unknown reason, age-restricted.
Random videos about unionization and US foreign policy have found themselves age restricted. I won't dig them all up, but here's one which was made age restricted without appeal. Does it seem like 18+ content to you?
It's wonderful when I have to show my ID before I can watch a video of the funny man saying fuck (I'm not kidding, that's sometimes but usually not enough to get it automatically age-restricted).
This is governance done wrong. Severely wrong. Your 12 year olds will find a way to content, probably on sites that are "worse" than Youtube. For Europeans everything on Youtube is now Youtube Kids.