I'll again say that I think there's a real disconnect between the fears about age verification being discussed here and the concept amongst the general US population.
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I'll again say that I think there's a real disconnect between the fears about age verification being discussed here and the concept amongst the general US population. "People in power want this" is, in my view, a reductive way of considering the situation. People in power want to stay in power, and that means appealing to constituents. And constituents across the board are in favor of some flavor of gating.
Different surveys reveal different results on exact preferences, and I think that's why you end up with legislation like CA's SB 1043 and now HR 8250. Some consultant somewhere got it in their head that the OS was the perfect place to meet everyone's needs, and here we are.
Once again, there is reason for concern, but the concern should be measured against the reality of where the bill is in the process. Moreover, I would implore us all to resist simple stories of villainy. Sometimes there really are obvious villains, but they are exceptional.
And at this moment, before the process carries on for too long, is when we have the best shot at stopping this legislation.
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I'll again say that I think there's a real disconnect between the fears about age verification being discussed here and the concept amongst the general US population. "People in power want this" is, in my view, a reductive way of considering the situation. People in power want to stay in power, and that means appealing to constituents. And constituents across the board are in favor of some flavor of gating.
Different surveys reveal different results on exact preferences, and I think that's why you end up with legislation like CA's SB 1043 and now HR 8250. Some consultant somewhere got it in their head that the OS was the perfect place to meet everyone's needs, and here we are.
Once again, there is reason for concern, but the concern should be measured against the reality of where the bill is in the process. Moreover, I would implore us all to resist simple stories of villainy. Sometimes there really are obvious villains, but they are exceptional.
And at this moment, before the process carries on for too long, is when we have the best shot at stopping this legislation.
@mttaggart I referenced this on discord so I probably should boost.
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I'll again say that I think there's a real disconnect between the fears about age verification being discussed here and the concept amongst the general US population. "People in power want this" is, in my view, a reductive way of considering the situation. People in power want to stay in power, and that means appealing to constituents. And constituents across the board are in favor of some flavor of gating.
Different surveys reveal different results on exact preferences, and I think that's why you end up with legislation like CA's SB 1043 and now HR 8250. Some consultant somewhere got it in their head that the OS was the perfect place to meet everyone's needs, and here we are.
Once again, there is reason for concern, but the concern should be measured against the reality of where the bill is in the process. Moreover, I would implore us all to resist simple stories of villainy. Sometimes there really are obvious villains, but they are exceptional.
And at this moment, before the process carries on for too long, is when we have the best shot at stopping this legislation.
@mttaggart I wrote my congress person but TBH I feel like it's pissing in the wind if they aren't on that committee.
I would not be surprised if a number of tech companies were vehemently against this. Amazon doesn't want to have to start age-gating every time you spin up a fucking EC2 instance.
