The smart phone generation seem to have lower computer literacy than millennials largely due to smart phones hiding away a lot of the workings. In the UK age verification for adult sites came into force yesterday and like everywhere streaming services are getting very enshittified. This is going to lead kids to discovering tor, VPNs, pirating, how to make deep fakes (to fool ai based age verification), and other ways of getting what they want without restrictions.
It isn’t about protecting children. It’s about exploiting adults.
A majority of people, both children and adults, will successfully be exploited by this. Even if it is eventually repealed (which is unlikely, there are businesses set up dependent on this - we can’t deny investors their profits!), it’s already happening now.
This is probably a great time to invest in these businesses. Not that I would, out of principle, but it’s pretty obvious they’re going to make bank.
This is probably a great time to invest in these businesses.
Palantir is already at a 600 p/e. Similar AI / Data security companies have valuations in the hundreds. The whole tech sector is a bloated pustule waiting for revenue growth that’s beyond speculative. You’re going fishing in a shark tank.
Invest at your own risk.
When was it decided that parents can do absolutely nothing wrong regarding their kids so that intrusive bullshit like this had to be introduced? Who in their right mind would upload their ID or face pic to some rando porn site to verify an age? It’s like Internet Security 101 to not do that ever.
I had a sour taste in my mouth when signing Stop Killing Games because it required my full legal name and address even tho I understand that they need to verify my eligibility to vote and I trust them way more than I trust a for-profit porn site. It’s just not something I usually do on principle.
Yeah the Act shows the wilful stupidity of politicians who pass legislation without understanding the areas they’re legislating on. It’s a nonsense act that tries to look like it is “protecting children” and is performative nonsense for MPs to pass moral judgement on things they don’t agree with.
But in practice it’s a security and privacy nightmare, it’s restricting and interfering in the freedom and rights of the majority of the population all to satisfy a stupid moral panic, and it makes the UK look like a backwards state.
it makes the UK look like a backwards state.
Don’t worry, soon other countries will be down there with the UK. Look at the payment processor (Visa/MC/etc) issues recently with sexually explicit games on Steam and itch.io.
Who in their right mind would upload their ID or face pic to some rando porn site to verify an age? It’s like Internet Security 101 to not do that ever.
That’s the point. They’re not trying to “protect the kids”. They’re trying to kill porn by making it more cumbersome and uncomfortable for you to do.
Aren’t there like 1000s of Russian porn sites that dgaf who you are or where you are? (And probably install malware.) Are all UK ISPs going to find them all and block them all one by one or how is that supposed to work if the site itself doesn’t geo block?
Next step: the great wall of great britain. Protecting citizens from harmful foreign influences.
Hadrian’s firewall
Umm. What? I can’t fault your optimism, but… No. Like, really. Not a snowball’s chance in hell levels of nope.
Kids are far more likely to assume a fully enshittified experience is “just how it is”. I don’t see any logical path that would support your predicted outcome. Increasing the barrier to entity isn’t just gonna magically change their minds and make them spontaneously hop the fence. That path is even more of a pain in the ass. , and they were already just using what’s shoved in getting of them. If it’s already not worth their time to do different, why would making it seem even less attractive help?
I don’t think they are as stupid as you think them.
I mean, back when I was younger I learned pretty much all I know about IT by admining my own computer, and I pretty much did it by trial and error yes. However nowadays kids talk to each other over popular chat applications, eventually one tells another “hey just install this browser/vpn” the same way they install mods for their videogames.
Tho in the end I don’t think they will become techy savy tho, I guess just that tor and VPNs will become commonplace in UK.
Meanwhile the old boomers are the ones who are going to forced to shrug “just how it is”.
Hormones and porn addiction. You think a 16 year old who’s been watching porn for years is going to give it up over night?
You’re talking to someone who would steal the sears catalog (like printed catalog - showed up in an actual physical mailbox) and page through the lingerie ads. You think a hormone driven teenager needs Pornhub?
Just saying…
When you’ve tasted wine, would you go back to vinegar though?
Oh, you sweet summer child. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
The world has changed. I don’t think the lads mags of old or going to the one corner shop where you knew they weren’t going to bother checking your ID for a top shelf mag is going to cut it with teens who are used to 10 monster cocks gangbang pawg.
Do they even have porn mags anymore? Seems like you’d have to go to a special collectors shop or something to find them, if they exist.
Still a thriving market here. Some people might have to travel a bit though.
That’s a very specific age that might try to seek it out. But what about a 10 year old who never experienced it and grows up thinking that’s just the way it is?
Training to accept the taste of leather.
We owe it to youth to stop this, not see training opportunities like Americans do their slaves.
I love how your comment negatively depicts Americans as enslavers while simultaneously portrays everyone else as victims of their government.
seems pretty racist to me.
2 words. PORN MAGAZINES
return 2 the bush
I doubt that. As long as social media algorithms can capture the attention of children, most won’t bother with learning more about computers.
The reason previous generations did, was because there weren’t so many ways to distract yourself. To play games on the first computer I had access to I had to use DOS. There was no way around it. Now people don’t, so they won’t.
Disagree. That’ll only make kids look for the next easiest solution. Tor? VPN? Too complicated. Just join a telegram chat group, done. Piracy and porn galore (plus fuckloads of ads, piracy for sale and scams). They’ll only use AI to make porn of girls in their classes
I disagree, Microsoft’s enshittification of windows with win 8 led me to learn Linux. From there I’ve learned more about computing, self hosting, and networking than I ever had an interest in before. What I’m saying is give it time, nobody is going to be hackerman on day one of this law being enforced.
We can all hope, but that may not happen
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https://www.edweek.org/technology/u-s-students-computer-literacy-performance-drops/2024/12
It is difficult to find data comparing Gen alpha/“smartphone generation” to other generations, largely because definitions of computer literacy and methods for assessing it have not remained stable on that time scale in the face of evolving technology
“please provide evidence that people who are abstracted from their operating system have less knowledge of how an operating system works”
There ya go. I summarized your post for you.
