UK fines Reddit $19 million for using children’s data unlawfully

https://lemmus.org/post/20417618

As much as I hate Reddit this is just continuation of the UK government steamrolling and destroying the free Internet, ruining the adult experience.

One of the wonders of the Internet was that it was wildly unregulated - if you wanted it and you could disable safesearch you could get it, with the caveat of ISP-enforced content locks on all mobile subscriptions with data under the name of a legal child (under 18), workplace and school security and filters, unremovable Safesearch on most search engines etc. Broadband required an adult. I couldnt wait until I turned 18 so I could finally access many sites for porn, news, gaming, forums and anything containing keywords without being blocked.

In short there is significant existing protection in place and we know that this is simply more evidence of Orwellian enforcement.

The unregulated internet had literal child porn sites that were available to anyone.

I don’t disagree with some of your points but the “wild West” internet shouldn’t exist in society.

Well yes, the more CSAM detection and predator hunting, the better. Task forces and, dare I say it, detection programs with algorithms that may or may not include AI learning, are invaluable to eliminating the actually terrible stuff, anything that can’t even be educational.

I believe the Online Safety Act and Chat Control’s sections that tie every user’s real identity to their online actions is not a solution, because when that data gets leaked and/or abused many innocent lives are in danger. I trust the state very little. I trust unidentified malicious hackers even less.

Leaked data doesn’t even need to be dangerous to life. I, like many others, don’t have “nothing to hide”, but I don’t still want my real name next to a list of content I’ve watched from streaming sites. Also I don’t really want my identity tied to this pseudonym, or any other accounts on any platform. There’s a crapload of problems and it would be a heaven for scammers if there was no way to stay at least relatively anonymous around the net.