Matthew GreenThe move to add “age verification” to websites at the state level is pretty worrying, and is functionally pretty close to a complete ban on certain sites.
There’s a world where phone manufacturers store your ID and generate fancy zero-knowledge proofs to satisfy age verification requirements, but I’m not convinced putting Apple and Google in charge of more important things is the way our society should go.
I don’t think these bans are going to take porn off the Internet (lol) but I’m worried about what these laws get used for *after* they’re tested and allowed by the courts. I think that’s going to be very unpleasant.
Michael Bacon@matthew_d_green I really don't like the long-term implications for the reasons you say.
But in the short term, sex workers organizations have been railing against sites like PornHub for years because of how little money actually gets back to them. It's going to be a boon for subscription sites which (again, I'm following what the workers themselves here say) apparently get much more income to them.
Because in some of these jurisdictions, credit card age verification is sufficient.
Burstaholic@MichaelTBacon @matthew_d_green the new wave of laws requires actual identity, not just "any credit card."
The North Carolina law only requires age identification without specifying how. Other jurisdictions are far more prescriptive. In the past, credit cards have passed legal tests for reasonable precaution. Most legal observers in NC say it's unclear if that will be sufficient.