[john01dav]

What about (3) "bypass government censorship"? UK and China are examples of where this is desirable. This is different from (1) because it's broader than just streaming shows and is about authoritarian rather than capitalist restrictions.

[NoGravitas]

Add at least 18 US states to your examples if you consider age verification for porn to be government censorship.

[eviks]

Apparently, weaklings censor, so fighting them doesn't raise above the silly level

[flumpcakes]

I think the general discussion is conflating censorship with age restrictions. Lumping the UK with China is very disingenuous.

The UK law is stipulating adult content can only be viewed if you are provably over 18. They are putting all of that responsibility onto the websites/platforms to enforce that.

If a child goes to a shop and tries to buy a pornographic magazine and they are denied, is that censorship?

If a child tries to see an 18 film at the Cinema and is denied, is that censorship?

The fact is both of these were freely and easily done on the Internet as most websites do not verify a users age.

I do not like the online safety act as it is, but it is not "censorship".

[aydyn]

What about all the websites that either shut down or fully blocked the UK? Is that censorship?

[john01dav]

In practice the UK law is covering far more than explicit porn, but rather anything even slightly taboo or that acknowledges sex. Furthermore, many adults won't hand over government ID to the Internet like that. Taking these together, you get de-facto censorship.