About this episode
Killing The Internet For The Sake of “Children”
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1748/text
https://old.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1mbmlz9/age_verification_in_the_uk_and_xboxs_ongoing/
https://support.spotify.com/uk/article/age-restricted-content-age-check/
https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/youtubes-new-ai-age-verification-is-coming-soon-heres-whats-going-to-chang
The UK recently passed a law that effectively forces online platforms to block access to content that may be harmful to “children” where children are likely to access it, with companies being fined £18 million or 10% of their annual turnover, whichever’s highest. It also allows the UK’s Office of Communications to explicitly block any website they want. The US is re-introducing a similar law called the Kids Online Safety Act (S.1748). One common theme is this idea that they need to protect children by forcing adults to submit verification to these companies…
This also affects gaming. Xbox in particular already has a blog statement about what this means for gamers in the UK. Players who claim to be over 18 will get constant nagging notifications asking them to verify. Also all social features on Xbox Live will be limited to those who actually verify their age starting next year. If you do not comply by then, then you’ll be limited to friend only interactions on Xbox.
Spotify has also implemented Age Checks for content marked at 18+. YouTube has ALSO joined in on this bandwagon too, and will implement this starting August 13th in the US as well. Is YouTube Dead? Is the internet dead?
Gamers Working Together to reverse Payment Processor Bans
Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1m9ly2j/so_i_got_a_response_from_visa/
https://www.thegamer.com/steam-gaming-industry-visa-payment-processors-adult-games-banned/
Gamers have been in a frenzy ever since Payment Processors and Collective Shout decided to go after adult games on Steam and Itch.io. Some gamers have even gotten responses from Visa, where they claim as long as
