French Age Verification?

[stickyvicky]

This worked out so well for the UK, LOL it was years of hell for everyone involved, so now the French are going to give it a go? How logical?
https://www.politico.eu/article/france- ... -websites/

[Andrew35]

it's France, what else is new lol

[LizLemon85]

Yes, that went well, in the UK...
So there will probably be 2 options, using AgeID, which is owned by Mindgeek (surprise... So they even will be making money off of the 1 percent of websites they do not own already) or going to a store to buy a voucher, which is basically like saying "So that you know, I'm about to watch some porn and I'll probably masturbate" to the person working there

[stickyvicky]

Or everyone will just use a VPN and bypass the entire system.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against age verification at all, I think it's a good thing and would welcome it if done correctly. But everyone needs to get on board and do it together - all the countries, one system - one rule for all - that is never going to happen.
And the other thing is if you really are doing this to protect children's mental health, you have to stop them going from the tube sites, you can see some god-awful traumatic things on the tube sites for free with no credit card.

As a matter of fact you don't even have to go to a tube site just look at what you can see on Twitter. Why is this okay for a 10 year old to be seeing. Is this even real? I've seen worse too, This one was just handy.

This is so much worse than just finding your dad or uncles Playboy magazines hidden in a closet but I digress ...

So they make these massive complicated rules and complications on a country-by-country basis that can put small websites and small businesses like my own out of business because we'll be crushed under the weight of the administration of it all, yet the giants with millions and millions and millions of subscribers like Twitter getaway scott free? For some reason it's not applicable to them? I just don't understand it?

[LizLemon85]

Nooooo, my eyes... Wow, that video, couldn't hit the pause button fast enough, I'll send you my therapy bill... Sorry, bad joke.

Where do you draw the line? As always, there are no simple solutions.
If Twitter bans content, they put it up somewhere else. Ban every form of nudity like Instagram where women's accounts were shut down because of breastfeeding pictures? Even when they are required by law to take down content, they will simply say that it's too difficult to do that (in Germany, Facebook is required to delete hatespeech, but it doesn't work well, to say the least) or pay the penalty. Or move to a country where different laws apply.
And what's acceptable and unacceptable differs so much, not just between "western countries" and others. Take Poland which is located in the heart of Europe and is currently declaring parts of its country "gay-free".
Problem is that governments pass laws and don't support people people who are affected (sorry, I talk a lot about Germany, but obviously, I know more about living here than about living elsewhere). Here, prostitution is legal and there is a law that you have to use condoms but in reality, no one supports sex workers' rights, they can pay taxes, but get no help during the pandemic for example.
But I got sidetracked, if they rule that there has to be an age verification, they should have to provide solutions as well. And pay for them.
It would help if people were more educated on the topic of sex and porn. Main problem is that people don't talk about what they like, so they go to tube sites where, even if you look for some rather "conventional" stuff, you are presented with the most outlandish videos and people can't tell the difference anymore. They look down on people involved and of course you don't pay people you despise (their logic). People should know that there are different kinds of porn, not "good" or "bad", but violent bdsm porn shouldn't be next to "vanilla" scenes, in my opinion. Porn can do harm but also be liberating. Nothing is just bad or solely good.
tl;dr
So long story (very long, sorry about that, I'm very passionate about certain topics) short, talking, education and support are important. A little compassion is also helpful. Totally new and radical finding...

[WalterB]

Nooooo, my eyes... Wow, that video, couldn't hit the pause button fast enough, I'll send you my therapy bill... Sorry, bad joke.

Exactly what I was going to say, Liz

But very Important comment and good thinking by Vicky and yourself.

[WalterB]

And, Liz, I love your intelligent and impassioned thoughts. I also enjoy reading Europe's happenings from an Insider. Maybe from when I worked in Spain, I don't know. But I do have an interest in Europe. I am as interested in Europe as I am America. I really believe that we have finally become a world-wide community.

We SO need to look beyond our own little worlds and realize that we are all in the same boat. What I do here does affect what you do there, and vice-versa. I can understand all of the different thinking. I guess I wish that people would tend to their own worlds before they go out and start trying to rearrange every one else's. Yes, there are problems in the world that need fixing. But I don't think that sex is one of them. But the whole thing would be so much nicer if parents would be aware, and would teach their children.

[Andrew35]

I was playing a game which is like ongoing series well one the statements in the game was from the lead character and it was about how we're all interconnected and to your point Walt how what I do affects others.