this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2026
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Age checks could turn internet into an ID checkpoint and would kill anonymity, Proton CEO says (proton.me)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by Deep@mander.xyz to c/technology@lemmy.world
225 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Online threats to children are real, but the headlong pursuit of age verification that we’re seeing around the world is unacceptable in its approach and far too broad in scope — and we simply can’t afford to get this wrong.

To be clear, parents’ concerns are valid and sincere. Few people would argue that kids should have unfettered access to adult material, to self-harm how-tos, to social media platforms that manipulate them and expose them to abuse.

But it’s the very depth of those worries that is being cynically exploited. Age verification as is currently being proposed in country after country would mean the death of anonymity online.

And we know exactly who stands to gain: The same tech giants who built the privacy nightmare that the internet is today.

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[–] SpaceCadet@feddit.nl 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

You just missed the point entirely.

The reaction to this should not be "oh no, my entertainment", but "oh no, my information, my communication, my freedom". Killing anonymity online does a lot more than take way your free entertainment, so while it's cool that you will have your books and dvds and all, that's besides the entire point. The internet is an integral part of society now, you can't just go back to pre-internet offline times because that world is gone and once the new world turns into this authoritarian hellscape, we will be stuck with it.