On Sept. 11, Michigan representatives proposed an internet content ban bill unlike any of the others we've seen: This particularly far-reaching legislation would ban not only many types of online content, but also the ability to legally use any VPN.
The bill, called the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act and advanced by six Republican representatives, would ban a wide variety of adult content online, ranging from ASMR and adult manga to AI content and any depiction of transgender people. It also seeks to ban all use of VPNs, foreign or US-produced.
Main issue I have with this article, and a lot of articles on this topic, is it doesn't address the issue of youth access to porn. I think any semi-intelligent person knows this is a parenting issue, but unfortunately that cat's out of the bag, thanks to the right. "Proliferation of porn" is the '90s crime scare (that never really died) all over again. If a politician or industry expert is speaking against bills like this, their talking points have to include:
- Privacy-respecting alternatives that promise parents that their precious babies won't be able to access that horrible dangerous porn! (I don't argue that porn can't be dangerous, but this is yet another disingenuous right-wing culture (holy) war)
- Addressing that vagueness in the bill sets up the government as morality police (it's right there in the title of the bill, FFS), and NOBODY in a "free" country should ever want that.
- Stop saying it can be bypassed with technology. The VPN ban in this bill is a reaction to talking points like that.
- Recognize and call out that this has nothing to do with protecting children and everything to do with a religious minority imposing its will on the rest of the country (plenty of recent examples to pull from here).
Unfortunately this is becoming enough of "A Thing" that the left is going to have to, once again, be seen doing "something" about it. So they have to thread a needle of "protecting kids," while respecting the privacy of their parents who want their kids protected and want to look at porn, and protecting businesses that require secure communications.
It seems quite obvious to me that this will, in fact, not work. I'd even argue that nobody wants it to work. Only to introduce a law that a lot of people will break at some point, to have an excuse to target them later in the future if the need arises.
No project like this will produce any significant results in any western country. It's simply impossible to implement without full supervision and control over the entire Internet. China was able to block all online porn due to having such infrastructure. And that was possible due to a vastly different culture. We don't.
In general, the issue of widespread pornography is very analogous to climate change. We've been warned about this for decades, and yet, have done nothing to prevent it. All we can, and in my opinion should be doing, is limiting its presence in our societies, especially in the context of children. This would no doubt involve online ID verification at some stage, though that can be done with respect towards privacy.
Also, what's up with targetting ASMR? It has no inherent relation to adult content. The transgender people part isn't surprising and we know where that's coming from.
No it can't. Data can be de-anonymized.
Of course. Any and all data, stored anywhere, either physically or digitally, can and will be accessed by third parties and bad actors. This is the harsh reality.
However, it doesn't stop us from collecting various information about our nations, including personal data. It also doesn't stop us from creating more and more digital national services. Are they perfectly secure? No, not even close. But the need for them and their benefits [usually] greatly outweigh the risks. Perhaps an online ID verification system is one such case.
It is possible to make it so that only the government has access to the ID itself, which it already does, obviously. If no other parties can access it, there seems to be minimal risk.
Losing the ability to anonymously criticize the government, the rich, and those in power is a non starter.
Worse, even if it somehow came to fruition it won't solve the problem of kids getting access to porn. You'll sooner get pornographic zines and sneakernet. This is a parenting failure, not an auth failure.
The goal here isn't to protect kids, its to silence dissent.
Have you lost that ability in your country? In my country, and in all of the EU (except Hungary), we have a ton of national and EU digital services. And yet, we can and very often do criticize our governments. Including online official channels, where they always know our identities.
How does parenting solve anything in a society where porn is everywhere, including on services made for kids, and where cities are filled with billboards depicting erotic ads? Do you propose we cut our children from all contact with the outside world and lock them in the basement?
There's only so much you can do as a parent faced with systematic issues. Even if you're the perfect parent, your child will still suffer from worse parents' children, from poor state policies, and from nearly all outside factors.
That's most likely true. No arguing about that.
I'm merely discussing a theoretical scenario, removed from the rot of our societies. Kind of like universal basic income. In theory, it may be a great concept that could solve many issues plaguing us today. However, in real life, it would no doubt lead to the erosion of our rights and freedoms, which largely stem from our contribution to society and the need for our labor.
This post is about it being attempted. See the OP.
This is a strawman argument.
You are talking about enabling fascism.
This is exactly what the UK has attempted. It doesn't work, either.
Porn is here to stay. "Children" covers a wide range of ages, and exposure to sex of some kind is not the debilitating thing it's made out to be. The approach should be to contextualize it and educate about it.
Humans reach sexual maturity as young as like 8 years of age in rare circumstances. Trying to act like humans arnt just fucking animals is bafflingly stupid.
You can't fucking hide humanity from humans. You want to prevent stupid kids from making more kids before they are ready? Or prevent them from easily being taken advantage of sexually?
TEACH THEM WHAT SEX IS, AND BE AS BLANTENT AS POSSIBLE.
The only thing that prevents people from doing something stupid is education and support . The only thing that stops people from letting others take advantage of them is education and support.
If you don't educate your fucked up on bother counts. If you don't support them you fucked up on both counts.
Pussy footing around, using complicated metaphors and flowery language does nothing but confuse children most of the time.
Kids are smart, give them the basic ass facts and they will understand.
Hell even teaching abstinence wouldn't be so God damn fucking problematic if it wasn't so wrapped up in religious bullshit to go along with it.
Just telling your kid what sex is, what porn is, that it's risky and shouldn't be done till they are older. But should it happen use a condom and talk to their parents about it. Would solve so many god damn fucking problems.
FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING PLEASE JUST TALK TO YOUR KIDS AND BE UPFRONT.
Something with "morals", I guess...
It makes them uncomfortable, and they can't tolerate anything that makes them uncomfortable. The entire world exists to make them happy.
No, it makes them horny, because they confuse intimacy with sexuality because they get neither without force or payment.