And before that, kids were passing dirty magazines they found in a tree.

You can't stop teenagers from being horny. And I rather they watch porn than have sex at that age.

You can't stop teenagers from being horny. And I rather they watch porn than have sex.

Sure, but if they need to learn, it isn't a 5 minute operation.

I too can go to space in 10 minutes, if I already did all the training and get a space shuttle from NASA.

The last data breach I can think of that was widely known was Ashley Madison. I think if the Porn ID data got leaked it would have a similar spread (giggity), due to a similar scandalous nature.

Next up is "Stop children using custom linux distros and unique radio setups to connect to access points outside the nation"

Is there a plausible way they actually ban the use of VPNs? Like, they can make it illegal on paper, but even in China, which has long had strict restrictions on internet use, I've heard that VPN use is widespread.

It just all seems like performative whack-a-mole to me. The only people who can control what a kid sees online are their parents or guardians. A child is not buying themselves a laptop or an iPad.

They will just selectively enforce it

I know that this is all just theater to just destroy any semblance of free speech and privacy on the internet but if I'm completely honest I also don't even understand people who freak out about kids looking at porn. Like, I get protecting children obviously from predators (fucking Roblox), but also I saw hardcore porn on the internet super early when I was like 8 and the only trauma I ever felt was the fear of being caught looking at it by my parents, who were otherwise pretty chill about me seeing really violent media.

And before me and the internet, kids were looking at their grampa's/dad's porn magazines or finding it in the woods or getting some 18 year old to buy it for them. It was harder but I'm telling you they found it.

I feel like a bigger concern for kids right now is microplastics, lead poisoning, and climate change and you don't see nearly the same hysteria about that shit in mainstream politics.

the instructions can cover the server setup too. the instructions can also be to just download and run a script with double click, because it's really just following simple instructions that can be codified

I agree that gambling is bad and nobody should do it, but that's different from the government preventing you from doing it.

Something being "bad" doesn't mean it should be banned, it means it needs closer scrutiny to make sure both sides of the transaction are fully informed of the risks and can meaningfully consent.

money laundering

I don't like this reasoning because the underlying assumption is that violating people's privacy is okay if it helps catch criminals.

That said, there are typically rules that limit this. In most areas, casinos have to ID you and report any transaction over a certain amount (usually $10k or so per day, many casinos have a lower threshold) to tax authorities specifically to combat money laundering, just like banks do. That seems to limit money laundering for larger players, but obviously doesn't do much for smaller players. To do better, we either need much lower limits, or much higher surveillance, and both would violate innocent people's privacy.

Instead of that, we should take a hard look at policy and policing. For example, a lot of money laundering is by drug dealers, and they exist due to drug bans. Maybe we should consider legalizing and regulating more drugs, which would give people safer options, reduce incarceration rates, and reduce laundering from illegal drugs since more people would go for the safer options. On the policing side, we can improve training, reallocate people from ticketing to investigative work, and build community trust to improve quality of reports.

At the end of the day, I think personal liberty and privacy is more important than preventing harm or catching criminals. I also think we can do both, but we need to start from the perspective of maximising liberty and privacy.

It is a 5 minute operation to learn how to use a VPN.

Many are, quite literally, just install and hit connect. Something an online tutorial can teach you in about a minute or two.

Maybe a bit longer to learn the other things. But I can assure you from experience that this is something that anyone can learn about in a short amount of time.

Bit of a far cry from the years of education and training needed to enter space.