Łukasz (woo-cash)Dec 10
🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)

Because age verification is really just there to:

- suppress queer information
- restrict abortion access
- gatekeep sexual education
- slurp up more personal data for marketing

"But think of the children!"

Maybe we should think about the corporations that prey on their attention-spans and self-esteem instead.

Sign stuff here:
https://www.stoponlineidchecks.org

Info on how to help here:
https://docs.fightforthefuture.org/s/637497e2-8a61-42aa-82fe-1b847e113ebb#h-what-are-online-id-checks-and-why-are-they-a-threat

#CallToAction #Activism #InternetSafety

ONLINE ID CHECKS WILL RUIN THE INTERNET

Fight for the Future
Dec 9 at 7:44amWeb
Show threadKrutonium://Dec 9
@alice It's also there to make Identity theft so common that losing in court over getting hacked is a joke ie "Nothing of Value was stolen"
Show threadComrade WeezDec 9
@alice signed.
Show threadDFX4509B (Joshua Mason)Dec 9
@alice Signed.
Show threadPeritia SystemDec 9
@alice
Signed!
Show threadSimon AshdownDec 9
@alice
I really think this is more about power and control. The rise of authoritarianism everywhere is sorta the clue.
They don't want anybody doing or saying anything on the internet without being able to track them down 'just in case'.
They start doing this with the children because it's easy to justify, difficult to argue against, and allows them to begin setting up control measures for future expansion to other sections of the population.
Show threadLRDec 9
@simon_ashdown @alice part of this, esp in the eu, is likely a clunky way to fight bots and track russian agents / criminals in general. but is this really the best way to do it?
Show threadDźwiedziuDec 9

@alice
> "But think of the children!"
>
> Maybe we should think about the corporations that prey on their attention-spans and self-esteem instead.

Exactly the same failure mode technophobes have about smartphones in children's hands.

Show threadDźwiedziuDec 9

@alice
> Across the country, (…)

Which country?

This annoys me a bit, as I have to dig in to know how to interact with the site, as not having connections with $country.

(Which is not exactly true in the Big Tech era, yet that makes the asymmetry more pronounced. As in BT having influence outside $country, and the influence from outside is limited.)

@glynmoody

Show threadEsther Payne Dec 9

@alice I've signed.

I'd also like to point out that as a project @librecast (small as we are, and as early in building as we are) are very much against ID checks. This was a huge factor in closing our matrix room.

https://librecast.net/2025-07-31-matrix-and-linkedin.html

Librecast - Decentralisation and Privacy with Multicast

Show threadKateDec 9
@alice Australias laws go into effect tomorrow.
Show threadDouglas Edwards Dec 9
@alice Signed.
Show threadGraeme 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Dec 9
@alice Thanks for the link. I had to laugh, there was a woman on TV earlier talking about the Aussie social media ban being a good thing. And she's clearly wearing Meta glasses!!
Show threadA-nom-nom-nom-aly BSC SSCDec 9

@alice

I encourage the use of VPN's, been using one myself for almost 15yrs as well as various plugins for my browser to block scripts, trackers, sandboxing sites to avoid cross site tracking & leakage and so forth... I can't stop it all, but I can render most of it moot and worthless. I even use plugins to randomise what browser and OS it reports is being used... to reduce attempts at fingerprinting.

Show threadNickynahDec 9
@alice signed
Show threadKaleidoskop (moved)Dec 9
@alice artificial generation already ruined the internet.
Show threadPia Herself Dec 9
@alice Makes me so angry every time any kind of sex ed gets gate kept, especially stuff like you're not faulty if a girl gets crushes on other girls. I so wish I had had access to such knowledge in the early days of my very confused puberty.
Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Dec 9
@aamurusko79 @alice
Makes me angry too! It leads to so much suffering. Pure performative cruelty.
Show threadPia Herself Dec 9

@KimSJ People also think the early teens don't get to hear about sex any other way, the problem is that the 'knowledge' they get from rumours is usually wildly wrong and leads to teen pregnancies or STDs. I remember all the stuff that used to float around when I was in my early teens and we do have somewhat decent sex ed at schools, but event that didn't stop all the misconceptions. I can only imagine how it's like in a total purity environment.

Every excuse I've heard about banning sex had has always been really bad, often to a degree where I believe the person expressing the opinion should've probably received some too.

Show threadLynxDec 9

@alice

> "But think of the children!"

Well, exactly. I don't want my kid, or any of his peers, living behind a filter that works to skew their world view and hide life-saving information. I don't want their data being collected, monetized, surveiled, and abused. I don't want a surveillance state to be normalized for them.

That's the crazy thing about this - thinking of the children should actually be an argument _against_ these age verification schemes.

Show threadCat!Dec 9

@alice Just last year, in order to appeal to the anti-trans hate movement, Keir Starmer openly, publicly, and unequivocally expressed the position that children at an elevated risk of abuse should be exposed to the exact people statistically most likely to be their abusers.

And so his insistence that this is about "protecting children" carries precisely zero credibility.

Show threadKnightmareDec 9
@alice not to mention make everything less secure.
Show threadRiley S. FaelanDec 9
@alice Maybe, the people pushing for this shit could be made to reconsider by telling them that in a childless Internet, kink will be everywhere. 
Show threadKevin Karhan Dec 9

@alice Remember:

"#KYC" IS THE ILLICIT ACTIVITY!

  • I refuse #identification as a matter of principle not because I'd have "something to hide"!

And everyone else should do the same!!!

Show threadEmilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 9
@alice done
Show threadAltbotDec 9

@Minimac Here's a screenshot of a mobile webpage with a dark blue background. The webpage displays a thank you message after signing a petition. At the top, there's a small "X" icon on the left and a gear icon on the right. The main text reads: “THANKS FOR SIGNING THE PETITION!”. Below that, it says “Please consider sharing this page with your friends and family.” There are two buttons at the bottom: one labeled “SHARE” and another labeled “DONATE”. The top of the screen displays the time as “15:43” and various network indicators and a website address: “stoponlineid.org”.

Provided by @altbot, generated privately and locally using Gemma3:27b

🌱 Energy used: 0.106 Wh

Show threadDavid PDec 9

@alice

Australia has now implemented a "child safety" social media "ban".

I use quotes for the former due to everything you've said and for the latter because it's already clear it's not working.

Everyone who understood anything about the tech knew it wouldn't work told the government but they continued to double down on it because *wave arms in the air* "child safety".

#AusPol

Show threadJonathan LamotheDec 9

@alice Information control is one of the cornerstones of coercive control, and it's easier to do to someone if you start while they're young.

I suppose it could be argued that they are in fact thinking of the children... just not in a benevolent way.

Show threadKonrad CzechDec 10
@alice I refuse to do age verification out of privacy concerns, but also I don't know how to use a VPN. Now I have to ask my children for adult material.
Show threadKonrad CzechDec 10
@alice And their stuff is extreme...
Show threadNatDec 10

@alice And this comes after many forms of self-expression have been pushed off most corners of the internet.

I have a selfie project that i ended up hosting on onlyfans so it wouldn't be censored. Now ID verification makes the site actively harmful. I'm about ready to give up on the project instead of trying to find it a new home.

Show threadMiakoda Dec 13
@alice The kids are always smarter than the politicians. Age verification will only drive them away to darker parts of the web. I know this because I was a kid, looking at things I shouldn't, circumventing things people assumed could replace supervision.
Show threadKevin Karhan Feb 21

@alice Most importantly, people need to flatout refuse to ID as a matter of principle!

  • Because every person allowing that shit, no matter if done for "#AgeVerification" or "#KYC" normalizes such #fascist shite!
    • NO MATTER THE [FALSE] PRETENSES!!!
Show threadMikeWasFeb 22

@kkarhan @alice “When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere.”

- Lazarus Long

Show threadOrca 🌻 | 🎀 | 🪁 | 🏴🏳️‍⚧️Feb 21
@alice
"But think of the children!"

Maybe someone should think of those children's privacy, too? Privacy is a fundamental human right, after all. /s
Show threadOrca 🌻 | 🎀 | 🪁 | 🏴🏳️‍⚧️Feb 22
@alice Oh well, who am I kidding. Childrens are subhumans according to US laws. They're fine with stalkerwares as long as it's used to surveil their children.
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