
Porn watchers will have to prove they are over 18 under new laws - lumberjack
https://news.sky.com/story/porn-watchers-will-have-to-prove-they-are-over-18-under-new-laws-11224093?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
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marcoperaza
There is a censorial streak in the British Conservative Party. In addition to
porn, they also want to censor "extremist" views, with a very broad definition
of "extremism". In fact, the British Labour Party isn't too hot on free speech
either. A lot of laws restricting speech were passed under Blair's tenure. And
the current Labour leadership isn't exactly clamoring for their repeal.

Is censorship really a popular stance in the UK? What gives? I would love to
hear from a British person about this.

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caseysoftware
Censorship is a popular stance all over, depending entirely on _who /what_ is
being censored.

In the UK, it's porn. In Germany, it's Nazi memorabilia. In Canada, it's
pronoun use and "hate" speech. In Iran and China, it's government dissidents.
In the US, it's companies instead of governments doing it but the result is
the same.

Same Stupid, Different day

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lumberjack
I find this, quite peculiar. Who is pushing for this and why would they want
to do this? Is this some convert way to better track people, online? What
other motive could there be?

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criley2
British conservatives have been pushing a porn crackdown for a while. I (as
someone on the other side of the Atlantic) believe real identity verification
is just a tool to crackdown on porn in general. Everyone knows that if you
keep porn records, they'll get out (accidentally, hackers, governments, or all
of the above).

On the other hand, the company the British are paying to do this, MindGeek, is
not just developing the AgeID checking system. They also run most of the
popular Porn websites. And they own many popular Porn production studios.

So this is also a case of an aggressive vertical monopoly corrupting a
government into enriching and deepening their extremely profitable monopoly.
Now, a private porn distribution company that ALSO makes porn will now have
EXCLUSIVE rights to porn related age verification for all UK citizens. They're
the Porn Company King of UK, and all other companies now exist on a second,
less-government-supported tier.

It also means the UK Government is effectively subsidizing pornography, in a
way.

~~~
ohyes
So it’s a way of getting a porn “moat” if you will.

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samsonradu
Failing to understand the logic behind this. How could the UK government
possibly think letting an adult company collect user-data is for their own
citizen protection.

Wouldn't it make more sense for the government/ISPs to take care of the AgeID
product themselves? They are the gatekeepers to the internet basically isn't
it?

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caseysoftware
Why should _anyone_ collect this data? Can you imagine the first time it's
hacked and we have complete details of everything that anyone watches and
when? It will be awful, hilarious, and horrifying all at once.

 _" Your Royal Majesty, according to the recent Mindgeek hack, it appears
you.."_

NO ONE in their right mind wants that.

~~~
samsonradu
Needless to say it shouldn’t be done, but if anybody...a 3rd party?

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ben_jones
We should have a serious discussion about the impact of mass porn consumption
on developing persons. Does it have no effect at all? Does it increase sex
drive? Does it decrease sex drive? Does it cause depression? Does it lower
depression? Does it effect sexual preferences?

I feel like our understanding on mental wellness is so pitifully small that
something a innate as porn should be heavily studied.

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jjeaff
I agree. It's like we are in the big tobacco phase where everyone is saying
it's normal and healthy. To say otherwise is considered prudish and sexually
repressive.

~~~
guitarbill
It would be nice to see it studied scientifically, without knee-jerk
reactions. But I hear one of the problems is finding enough people for studies
who don't watch pornography.

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mythrwy
What the title suggest will never happen. But maybe users of big porn sites
might have to prove they are over 18.

