If 'child' is now permanently linked to my profile, and can only be removed by age verification by uploading ID, which I suspect is the goal here, then I may need to do that.
Do not comply.
Changing your VPN will do nothing. It's tied to your google account. Of which I have many and most were hit with the same restriction last year. I think I have one left they haven't caught yet but I rarely use it and only switch to it when I I run up on age restricted content. More and more videos are being flagged as such lately. It probably won't be long until they flag that last account of mine.
All my accounts are over 20 years old now. All were made way back when you had to have an invite to get a google account (gmail).
They will continue pushing until you're required to hand over Government ID to access anything (including food and water). Already mountains of content have been locked behind log-in walls over the past 10 years. Tons of content that used to be freely available on the web are locked up behind discord and various social networks. Every time I click on a link from the few remaining forums to download something I get a warning about needing an account and/or to verify my age to access the content. Tons of things are locked away all together now because I refuse to hand over a cell phone number. Still, I refuse to comply.
The only reason this is working is because people are complying and willing to hand over first phone numbers and now Government IDs to get their daily fix of content.
The free software communities aren't going to do anything to push back. In fact, they're actively going along because they were taken over long ago. Every private mailing list I have access to is now swarming with people employed by big tech companies who are shaming anyone speaking out against this stuff. I've seen multiple people murdered and/or driven to suicide over the past 10 years through bullying and social shaming that contributed so much for free but made the mistake of speaking out against things they knew were wrong. I myself can't publish anything about projects I've been involved with for years on the few remaining places that still allow free speech because the threads almost instantly get swarmed with these people and what I suspect are hundreds of AI driven posts designed to waste people's time, spread rumors and post non-sense to get moderation to delete the entire thread. All of which claim to be long time concerned members of the community that always suddenly vanish the moment I give up for awhile and stop publishing. Most of the few places left that do claim to allow free speech have subverted moderators that only log-in everyday to delete content they don't want spreading ("going viral"). Usually, they try to shift discussion into useless arguments over politics, sexism, racism blah blah blah. Anything to distract from the real point the author is attempting to shed light on.
You won't vote your way out of it. Voting isn't real. Hasn't been in a long time. The only way out is a shooting war I'm afraid. I already know I will not have access to the internet at all within 10 years due to the way the wind is blowing. I've been stacking data locally and planning for it for the last several years. The only way I'll retain access to is to clone someone else's cell phone or steal their ID. Which is going to start coming with heavy punishment in the near future.
The sad part is the vast majority of people do not care because all they want is their porn fix and to argue on social media. Tons of people will go along as long as they get their content fix and/or are allowed to continue making money off rage baiting through the main social media sites. Most of the people that claim to care about freedom don't care about anything but money.
Frankly, if it wouldn't make my Grandmother and parents sad I would have probably hiked up a mountain and ended my life by now. Since I know there is nothing I can do about what's coming and I can't even get the people closest to me to listen (much less, help me do anything about it). It's impossible to spread the word and gain support now to effect any real change. The population is too dumbed down at this point and lazy. As long as the bread and circus continues they'll happily go along with it.
There is a pattern to oppression. This is nothing new. We all just happened to catch the tail end of good times. We're entering another dark age and probably won't come out of it for 1,000-2,000 years or so.
www.bbc.com
