Lemmy is probably not complying with UK law already. But if hosted outside the UK you can just ignore them.

Some instances have blocked the UK but you can also just ignore it because wtf are they going to do

Yeah "family friendly" = advertisable.

And that kinda sucks, because that could actually be useful. For instance, you could set up a forum for people above the age of 40 or whatever while still letting everyone post pseudonymously. A third party public service that can blindly attest that a person is over a certain age could be a great and convenient thing. It's difficult to imagine such a thing happening, though.

Sure, but it'll be used by pearl-clutchers to enforce their morality on others.

Right, I'm imagining it as a service set up to be used if wanted/needed with no broad mandate. There are people running NSFW sites and channels that genuinely do not want minors interacting or accessing, and many would integrate this type of verification voluntarily if there was trust that it worked correctly and did not collect and distribute data about individuals. But I agree, that's not what is on offer. So far from the UK it seems like they are letting private businesses figure it out.

Age Verification Is Coming for the Whole Internet

Around the world, more users are being asked the same question: Can we see some ID? That has been a bit of a disaster so far in the U.K., writes John Herrman.

Intelligencer (web.archive.org)

Way Back Machine is your friend. I don't visit sites directly anymore.

You can do that in the US as well, but it will cost more because you wouldn't be agreeing to a fixed term. For example, my ISP charges $25 a month for 200 mb/s if you agree to a one-year term, but it's $40 a month if you do not agree to a one-year term. And there's also the added inconvenience of having to go to one of the ISP's physical stores every month and put cash into their kiosk.

They will ask for your name here when signing up, but nothing prevents you from lying about your name if you're going to be paying in cash. They ask for an e-mail address as well, but you can say you haven't got one, and they'll create one for you using their own e-mail service and assign it to you. You don't actually have to use it, but it is for receiving their bills and notices.

No, Darknet is just a website that's not listed anywhere. Lemmy is listed in many places.

This is the correct answer. Notice that they have no compunction about punishing parents who secure gender-affirming care for their trans kids, but there has been zero discussion of holding parents responsible for their kids' internet usage.

Far-right groups in the US have been crying "Big Brother" about everything for years because their whole plan has been to create a surveillance state where to gather information about dissenters. Every accusation is a confession with these people.

Right, I understand the idea, it's just very common that any capability that is created will be misused.

It’s about control. They can grant you access or revoke it based on your id.

The powers at be hate that they can’t control the narrative as well as they used to so this is their solution.

No it's not, maybe for some mainstream websites. Saying the "whole internet" is clickbait hyperbole.

They mean most of the internet for most people
Only the vast socially relevant parts of the internet

They're using children as human shields while they attack our human rights.

Lemmy is still very centralized,
sure there are many servers
and that takes care of the /u/spez problem
but very little else, most topic generally have one big community
and it's on the one big server

You can go elsewhere, if you like speaking into the void and nobody even hearing you.

Not a static target. What we consider a profile today is vastly more comprehensive than what was deemed sufficient a few decades ago. Ad networks today would put intelligence agencies back then to shame. They can always get more info. Adding biometric face data is useful to them. In a few more decades people might be talking about if Google and governments should be allowed to read your thoughts. The tech making this possible is already being developed and further along than many might expect.

The US government created the internet

Lemmy will be pressured into age verification also and most hosts will crumble.

Then just self host

ah ha! Guess that's how we beat the system.
People would need to sub to your instance though for you to post content right?

What would the pros and cons be?

No one needs the internet outside of work.

As someone with a disability (and no car), the internet has played a massive role in allowing me to live independently, which in turn has a profoundly positive impact on my mental health. There are a wide variety of circumstances in which the internet has enhanced life experience - let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.