[hedora]

All of these laws (the US has some now) are designed to set up a censorship regime that can control speech or oppress undesirable groups (Project 2025 calls out LGBTQ+, for example).

The age verification also will inevitably let the authorities create a list of adults to persecute.

[vkou]

> The age verification also will inevitably let the authorities create a list of adults to persecute.

If your government has slid that far down the dystopian shithole scale, why would they care if the person they are persecuting is an adult or a child?

[ta8645]

They don't. That's just a thin veneer of "legitimacy" so they don't have to admit the real reasons, explicitly.

[hedora]

Exactly. Why would a kid looking at wrong-think sign in, only to have their request rejected?

I usually don’t comment on downvotes, but geez. They even admit/brag that this is what they’re up to in the US!

Also, I don’t get the comments elsewhere on this article that hope Trump will block the policy in Australia, even though he’s pushing for identical stuff here.

[const_cast]

> If your government has slid that far down the dystopian shithole scale

The problem with laws such as this which rely on benevolent enforcement is that they're volatile. Any country could become fascist, at any time. We're all just sort of hoping that the data and privacy we've all given up isn't used for evil - but certainly the frameworks to use it for evil are there, and are being expanded constantly.