this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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Privacy
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Nebula. It isn't perfect, and it needs more creators, but that's the closest I've come.
Well, not if it's banned as social media, that's the issue.
Broadcasters did because they had laws restricting their content. Cable very much did not.
My experience is that the stuff pushed by most libraries as their hot new items, things to read, general recommendations, are pretty much slop. Romantasy slop is a big genre all its own.
Which isn't to say people can't enjoy it, but it really isn't much better than YouTube slop.
Now that, I agree is an issue, but that's just as true for adults as we've seen. I'd have less issue restricting how algorithms are pushed than mandatory ID... it would benefit all of society, not just kids, and it's actually a positive improvement on privacy since it disincentivizes profile building.
The Australian ban, and proposed bans in other countries (generally I only looked at a couple) aren't targeting things like Nebula though, focus is on large scale user to user platforms.
I just checked out YouTube front page in a fresh browser and it's several tiers below Romantasy in my opinion. You may have a more personalized experience, but the front door of Youtube is... nauseating.
The medium matters as well, the audio, visuals, length, like a sleezy, hyper active content casino.
Anyway, I cheer for any friction added to these tech companies because they are doing so much harm, so anything to slow them down.
But I do get the concerns around IDs and privacy (I personally wouldn't provide any). I think regulatory capture concerns are real as well. My preference would be on targeting the recommendation systems, and also making the platforms liable for content they are broadcasting.
Is that really a good reason for banning its use for kids? Again, this is like shutting off library access because the stuff presented at the front is slop... my library presents slop at the front door, I don't think that should stop kids from going inside.
I'd also point out at least my library doesn't do any age verification or ID checks either.
I think this is cutting off your nose to spite your face though when it allows... mandates, rather, a huge collection of data. I'm not so sure big tech is really against this... early iterations of code to verify age were said to not store any data, but auditors found that to not be the case. That was walked back, but I find it very unlikely they won't just do it again when there's less scrutiny.
Especially since kids are likely going to just get on through backdoors anyway, we've likely done very little to stop data collection on them while handing them most adults on a silver platter. That's in no way a score for the little guy.
I'm totally on board with fucking tech companies, I just don't think this does it while simultaneously it fucks us.
It's not at all comparable. If I go into a library and get a book on fixing cars, the librarian doesn't follow me around suggesting Joe Rogan.
Kids books from the library don't autoplay a pipeline of incrementingly extreme, dangerous or vapid content.
I don't see the value in the data being greater than the cost of administrating a patchwork of varied regulations across the globe.
Most people access their libraries via digital platforms like Libby as well these days. Unless you're just going full Luddite and we're just saying no digital access to anything at all.
This is a very strange position from someone posting in this community. You don't think, even assuming no ill intentions, there's any security risk in allowing big tech to access, and likely store, official identification? Data leaks happen all the time. If you wouldn't publicly post your identification information, you should see the value in that data.