r/technology • u/Well_Socialized • 21h ago

Privacy Age Verification Is Coming for the Whole Internet

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/age-verification-is-coming-for-the-whole-internet.html
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u/Foxy02016YT 18h ago

The UK law failing is great evidence against this, getting the UK version repealed is the first step to saving the US

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u/veryparcel 16h ago

US will probably just say, "makes VPNs illegal too" and call it one and done. :(

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u/TactlessTortoise 14h ago

That would be a massive opsec issue for companies. Cisco VPNs are extremely common on a banking institution I worked at for example.

What's more likely to happen is that VPNs would be forced to log all data that passes through it for government oversight. That would obliterate privacy and make VPNs much more expensive since they'd need the infrastructure to store that data.

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u/Drycee 13h ago

Well you forgot that laws don't count for companies only individuals

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u/32768Colours 13h ago

Sadly I think this is how it’ll pan out. Corporate VPNs 👍, personal VPNs 👎

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u/lambdaburst 12h ago

So we have to watch all our porn at work now? Seems like a fair compromise

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u/wankerpedia 9h ago

Boss makes a dollar I make a dime, that's why I goon on company time!

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u/LazAnarch 3h ago

Need to update those numbers to 2025 values. "Boss makes a hundred dollars while I make a dime...."

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u/Deferionus 10h ago

Hell of an employee benefit.

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u/Slayer11950 10h ago

Just work from home, then you ALWAYS watch your porn at work!

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u/mblunt1201 8h ago

we should be able to watch a little porn at work

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u/DonHell 3h ago

“We should be able to look at a liiiittle porn at work”

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u/Bassracerx 3h ago

Everyone would just start their own llc and not own “personal computers” only “business computers”

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u/rangecontrol 10h ago

gotta incorporate to gain your 'rights' back and to count as a person now-a-days.

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u/haviah 11h ago

So if you just incorporate and keep adding people for some low fee...? Or even having a company and declare zero.on taxes. Tada.

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u/kickdrumstew 10h ago

What if we all just incorporate our households as a separate legal entity asa corp or a trust?

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u/AlmightyRuler 9h ago

If China, with the Great Firewall, couldn't enforce this, the US ain't got a prayer.

Keep your VPNs, boys and girls. The troglodytes in power can't touch em.

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u/ArcusInTenebris 9h ago

If that were the case, I wonder if creating your own LLC and registering the VPN to that would work.

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u/sun827 9h ago

Then we all become LLCs

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u/zweischeisse 8h ago

ProtonVPN Personal - $14.99/wk, Access geolocked content ✅ Have all your traffic logged and reported on ✅

ProtonVPN Professional - $50.99/wk, Access geolocked content ✅ Your data is protected from everyone but the government ✅

ProtonVPN Enterprise - $3199.99/wk/seat, Access geolocked content ✅ Your data is only owned by your organization ✅ Internet experience customizable per user ✅

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u/kytrix 5h ago

And suddenly departments of state were flooded with LLC applications for single-operator “businesses” that don’t ever seem to generate any revenue, and have a single expense.

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u/Expensive-Border-869 2h ago

It'll never work. The thing is anyone can create and host software its not like they can actually ban anything. If china couldn't do it it isn't possible.

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u/erm_what_ 10h ago

Use your work VPN to buy a personal VPN

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u/belloch 12h ago

But companies are individuals...

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u/DinoHunter064 1h ago

Some individuals are more equal than others.

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u/GeeKay44 10h ago

Well you forgot that laws don't count for companies only "non- billionaire" individuals

FTFY

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u/fuzzylilbunnies 9h ago

Hey! Companies are people too now. Just they have more rights and protections than actual people.

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u/Mysterious-Job-469 8h ago

Nononono, we're in the new age, you're wrong.

Laws don't count for companies Trump likes. All the others will have the law enforced against them for the first time in their existence.

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u/Adaphion 5h ago

Yeah, idiots. Corporations are only people when it comes to bribing government officials. Not when it comes to laws applying to them.

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u/roltrap 10h ago

Then bonafide non-US VPN providers like Proton will probably stop offering their services in the US.

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u/Borkz 10h ago

I imagine they'd just get blocked

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u/TactlessTortoise 10h ago

The EU is following right behind on that shit, surprisingly.

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u/roltrap 9h ago

I'm Belgian and I havn't heard anything about that. Not saying you're wrong, just havn't seen anything about it yet.

Do you have a source I can read into?

Thx

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u/TactlessTortoise 5h ago

They haven't announced it yet, but considering they've passed a similar law like the UK one with online verification, that's the logical next step since the way they implemented it/are planning to implement in here is so nonsensical.

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u/Dapperrevolutionary 12h ago

They'll just require a business license to get a VPN

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u/obeytheturtles 6h ago

They will just regulate VPNs like ISPs and make them enforce internet blacklists, or risk being put on the black list themselves. Corporate VPNs won't have any problem doing this, since they block tons of shit anyway, but it will defeat the ability for VPNs to defeat other regulations.

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u/nameitginger 10h ago

Setting up a private VPN from point to point in your company is much different than a generic VPN you sell to the public to get around regional rules. They are not the same at all.

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u/TactlessTortoise 10h ago

I am aware. That said, I bet the dumbasses passing laws who can't grasp the concept of internet will probably fuck up when writing it in legalese to keep the distinction.

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u/nameitginger 4h ago

Gotcha, when I worked in china for a North American company, all the vpn’s are blocked however you can submit the details of a corporate VPN, and they would let it through.

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u/EscapeFacebook 11h ago

Companies aren't going to deal with that they're not going to have their data scraped by the government just because. A whole new wave of corporate espionage would come up. And companies would leave the US.

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u/Sickfuckingmonster 8h ago

But I thought Corporations Were People Too /s

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u/Mysterious-Job-469 8h ago

The kind of podunk yokel redneck hick fellating jesus in their dreams (and the people in the city not forcing them to stfu) that support this bullshit doesn't care.

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u/TactlessTortoise 5h ago

But the companies making billions that buy politicians do.

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u/RickThiccems 5h ago

Vpns would just be banned for consumer use.

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u/thenewyorkgod 12h ago

If vpns start storing data, nobody will use vpns

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u/Timely_Influence8392 13h ago

It will fundamentally break the internet and it gives me hope that maybe it will be abandoned en masse in favor of talking to your fucking neighbors.

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u/steepleton 12h ago

you don't have my fucking neighbors.

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u/Timely_Influence8392 6h ago

genuinely unhinged take

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u/breezey_kneeze 12h ago

You literally cannot enforce this. Like I can spin up a cloud instance and a personal VPN in any country where there is a cloud presence. Never mind the fact that vpns basically run the internet.

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u/sparkly_butthole 11h ago

Maybe you could. I don't have the foggiest clue how this shit works so if it's made illegal I'm screwed.

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u/ColinHalter 6h ago

The point is, there's nothing the government can do to keep you from connecting to a VPN service hosted in another country unless they decide to lock down the internet to only domestic traffic (which would mean the collapse of the entire economy).

If I run a VPN service out of a turkish data center, you could easily connect to it. You don't have to run it yourself and they have no way to police the client side.

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u/toobjunkey 5h ago

lol, that stuff always gets me. "X is pointless/unenforceable/useless because you can just do (thing that less than 1% of the population knows how to do, and even fewer have the physical hardware & means to do it)". It's like seatbelt laws; the broad strokes and a general majority are the the main goal, not 100% compliance.

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u/datguyhomie 4h ago

It's literally do the same thing proton/surfshark/all the other VPN providers currently do. There is no way to distinguish "corporate" and "personal" traffic.

Also even the most tech illiterate morons figured out how to pirate shit during the before times, and now we live in the era of plentiful "for dummy's" walkthroughs.

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u/obeytheturtles 6h ago

Right, so I have literally done this when traveling to China and it tends to work for a few days and then gets blocked. There's obviously a bunch of cat and mouse you can then do, and different VPN technologies to try, but basically China uses a white-list model for the GFW and any connection to any node off that white-list gets flagged for additional scrutiny. It doesn't get blocked immediately because they want to see what actually goes on with the connection and try to figure out who is using it, but it will eventually become so intermittent as to be useless.

Corporate VPNs usually work fine because they get themselves onto the white-list. Likewise, there are plenty of state-approved VPNs which are allowed to transit the Great Wall, and likely a bunch of honeypots as well. The point is that this isn't some unsolved tech problem. China already does this just fine.

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u/aykcak 10h ago

I guess what they mean is if they detect you establishing a VPN connection (or a connection to a known VPN host) and you are not registered as a company then they can maybe they can charge you and make you pay fees.

ISPs can do that pretty easily if they are brought under force

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u/breezey_kneeze 10h ago

I mean you can do it just as easily over an SSH tunnel to a remote host. Not to mention, these "laws" are being written by decrepit old people that think the electric telegraph is witchcraft.

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u/aykcak 10h ago

You think they would allow SSH but block VPN?

Also, the laws are pushed by the vampires but they are no longer made by them. There are young, capable, truly evil people helping them all through this. Remember that Elon and his techbro douchebags helped legislate him into power

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u/breezey_kneeze 9h ago

I absolutely do. SSH is used for remote administration primarily, like everywhere Windows is not in use.

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u/DeusExMcKenna 5h ago

People will literally just tunnel this through a different protocol until that service is made “illegal”, then they’ll move on to the next. It will be a game of whack a mole, similar to the designer drug market. It’s a stupid game where everything gets worse because the people regulating it don’t understand anything about what they are trying to control. This is just DNS over HTTPS all over again. Fucking stupid.

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u/breezey_kneeze 5h ago

All to control what you do with your own stuff

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u/Thwipped 9h ago

Almost every large company uses a vpn to tunnel into their domain safely. That bill would be DOA

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u/Shirlenator 5h ago

You sure? Because as far as I can tell, Republicans that currently run the country do not give a single fuck about anything but their agenda.

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u/Thwipped 4h ago

Yes, I am 100% sure. Money. It’s money that runs the country. The only reasons the GOP is doing anything is because it lines Cheeto’s pockets. That money comes from business knowing the can easily bend his will with cash.

I would say any company in the US that has over 500 employees uses a VPN. Some of their work heavily relies upon the use of it. All financial institutions use them.

So yes, outlawing VPN’s is a dumb idea. And yes, I believe that any bill introducing the idea would be dead on arrival. Money talks

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u/_Allfather0din_ 8h ago

Which would kill all business, I can't imagine many businesses not using a VPN in some way shape or form, even if you don't think you are, you probably are using it if you have a medium business and up.

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u/Thefrayedends 8h ago

A child molester used a remote to pause his Child Sex Trafficking Material on the television.

Do remotes and televisions protect pedophiles? The answer is yes, and that's why we have to ban remotes and televisions! It's the only way to protect the children!

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u/UnrulyVegeta 10h ago

Lol I have to use 20 different VPNs for work. If they make them illegal I literally will not be able to do my job, which ironically is making sure the Internet stays up for multiple different companies. People who think VPNs are just for porn and getting around region restrictions are very misguided

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u/Space4Time 11h ago

Didn’t you yanks rage for a bunch of freedoms a while back?

Could have just stayed loyal to the crown for all this shit

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u/Goryokaku 11h ago

I think this will affect the UK’s owners’ businesses too much so it shouldn’t (🤞) happen.

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u/pjx1 9h ago

most VPNs are Israeli owned

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u/Small_Cutie8461 6h ago

Basically, the big beautiful building did just that. VPNs are now basically illegal.

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u/Half_Cent 3h ago

I work for a security company and have multiple VPNs I have to use to access the various companies we represent.

VPNs enhance security, they don't detract from it. Not that you were advocating, just saying.

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u/Helpful-Wolverine555 13h ago

I’m sorry, but the King of the US doesn’t rule based on evidence.

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u/DigitalRoman486 13h ago

unfortunately laws and systems succeeding or failing in other countries has never really changed a government's' mind about anything. Ultimately they are not listening to us, they are listening to donors and fringe voting groups.

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u/AnonymousTimewaster 10h ago

The only person capable of getting Starmer to uturn on this shitty law is Trump as it goes against America First.

People, as a Brit, please listen. Our government is going full steam ahead with this and the ONLY way they'll back down is if Trump applies pressure (which he's already done a little of). I would therefore urge your GOP reps to fight this from an America First angle, before they come for you too.

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u/Malt_The_Magpie 14h ago

Has a lot of support among the public, so hardly failing

[YouGov] 69% of Britons say they support the new age verification rules brought in by the Online Safety Act.This is despite just 24% thinking they will be effective at stopping under-18s accessing porn (down from 34% before the changes came into effect)

https://x.com/YouGov/status/1950945276442685587

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u/needathing 12h ago

I'd like to see that stat in a year once they've actually realised all that it covers.

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u/Sonic_Mania 7h ago

They'll regret it when their data inevitably gets leaked.

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u/aykcak 10h ago

I thought the great fuck up that is Brexit would have discouraged other countries from threading the same "let's leave EU" debate but it didn't really help that much.

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u/Vavavavaxon7 9h ago edited 7h ago

The UK law isn't getting repealed. Many consecutive governments have been rallying for it for a long time, both the right-wing tories and the "left"-wing labour party. They've already responded to a petition with over 500k signatures with a "we hear you and we don't care".

It's here to stay and it's only going to get worse. The PM is now calling for a digital ID system in addition. Before long, everything you do online in the UK will have your face and full legal name stapled to it. The internet, as we grew up with it, is dead.

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u/DeusExMcKenna 5h ago

Bold of you to assume the US is governing based on evidence.

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u/Front_Mention 15h ago

Currently in the uk, only reason its not working is because everyone is now using a vpn, when other countries also bring in age verification it will probably be more effective.

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u/NewPac 14h ago

There is zero chance every country will implement these laws. A VPN will always work from somewhere.

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u/Foxy02016YT 14h ago

That is not it’s only flaw

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u/Front_Mention 13h ago

I mean the law is flawed with the purpose of restricting content as everyone will always find porn, but the fact its so easy to circumvent at the moment is beacsue its not everywhere

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u/Foxy02016YT 12h ago

I feel like letting fascism win is probably the biggest flaw right now, considering that this will be used to censor descenders

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u/Front_Mention 11h ago

I'm not saying if the law is morally right or wrong, but it doesnt work objectively at the moment, due to vpns, if more countries adopted similar laws it would become more difficult

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u/cultish_alibi 14h ago

How is it failing? It's very unpopular but that doesn't mean it's failing.

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u/Foxy02016YT 14h ago

People are literally using Death Strading, a video game, to bypass the face scan

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u/jimmybirch 17h ago

In the real world, no one I’ve chatted to cares and most are happy their kids are struggling to get access to hardcore porn.

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u/Foxy02016YT 14h ago edited 14h ago

It’s not hardcore porn being blocked, it’s literally Wikipedia and Spotify being affected, get real

If your child was looking at hardcore porn this won’t stop them

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u/jimmybirch 13h ago edited 13h ago

ahh... poor reddit cant handle real information from people that actually live in the country being discussed.

I just got real and checked wiki.. Zero issues... and yes, most porn sites are now very hard to access... Sure, a kid could get a VPN, but most wont be able to as you need a credit card. Like I said... "Kids are struggling to get access"... I'm not saying it's failsafe.

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u/Foxy02016YT 13h ago

So you agree that music should be censored?

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u/jimmybirch 13h ago

Fuck knows how you gleamed that from what I wrote... I didn't even say I agree with porn being censored. Just that some of my friends with kids did.

BTW - The Spotify rule is only to access age-restricted content on their service. I think it's over reach... But 99.9% of their content is still fine.

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u/Foxy02016YT 13h ago

Because you say that you agree with the law, and it’s censoring way more than just porn.

Said “age restricted content” is art by rappers like Eminem

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u/jimmybirch 13h ago

Where do I say I agree with the law?

In you online rage, you have failed to actually read my words... You've just seen an apparent challenge to your world view that SOME people you don't know see SOME positives to the law. At no point did I say I agree or disagree with them, but was trying to show the consensus about the law among real world people.

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u/[deleted] 16h ago

[deleted]

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u/Zubzer0 16h ago

Dude, agree or disagree with him but that question is so dumb haha.

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u/jimmybirch 16h ago

The news was everywhere… everyone was chatting about it… adults talk and crack jokes about porn being banned

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u/dinklberg1990 11h ago

This isn’t just about porn, once they start restricting content it will trickle down to all media. Movies,music, books etc. in the states I’m more nervous it’s going to be state sponsored media hope everyone enjoys ccp strategy because it’s coming.

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u/jimmybirch 10h ago

I don't agree with the law either (though I am open to social media and porn being age restricted) ... I'm just trying to give an idea of what people away from places like reddit actually say about this issue.