5 d. ago Online age checks are proliferating, but so are concerns they curtail internet freedom

Online age checks are on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere, asking people for IDs or face scans to prove they are over 18 or 21 or even 13

Politics

1 week ago 'If you want to protect children, we should all have to self

The Online Safety Act has drawn significant criticism since its introduction about age verification checks and the supposed silencing of free speech - but experts have said the move is essential to protecting young people online

Politics

1 week ago Frank Caprio, Rhode Island judge who drew a huge online audience with his compassion, dies at age 88

Retired Providence, Rhode Island, Municipal Court Judge Frank Caprio, who found online fame as a caring jurist and host of ”Caught in Providence″ died Tuesday

Events

2 w. ago Britain's porn crackdown in numbers: Pornhub loses more than 1 MILLION visitors in just two weeks

Visits to many adult sites halved within two weeks of the introduction of enhanced age verification rules under the Online Safety Act.

Politics

2 w. ago Supreme Court allows Mississippi to require age verification for social media as states move to protect children online

At least 12 other states have enacted similar age verification laws, hoping to protect children from online harms

Events

2 w. ago UK traffic to popular porn sites slumps after age checks introduced

Figures from digital data company show effect of strict rules brought in last month under Online Safety ActBritish visits to popular pornography sites have slumped following the introduction of strict age checks last month, data shows.Daily visits to Pornhub, the UK’s most used porn site, fell from 3.6m on 24 July, the day before age-gating was introduced, to 1.9m on 8 August, a drop of 47%. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Zidane, Eusebio, Adams: footballers whose names are also song titles | The Knowledge

Plus: two European ties in the same stadium on one day and the highest opening weekend goals-per-game ratioMail us with your questions and answers“I have just heard CMAT’s song Vincent Kompany because I am cool, young and relevant,” writes the cool, young and relevant Will Unwin. “I was wondering if any other player’s name is the title of a song, beyond simply being referred to?”In this age of streaming, there are many songs online whose titles are the names of footballers, but a few hundred listens here and there doesn’t make them particularly noteworthy. So we have wound back a bit to a time when songs were more commonly created in studios, not bedrooms. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Couples who meet online are unhappier in their marriages, study finds

In this day and age, we all know someone who has met their other half online. But these couples are less happy in love and have lower levels of marital satisfaction, according to a new study.

Politics

3 w. ago The UK's Online Safety Act is a licence for censorship – and the rest of the world is following suit | Taylor Lorenz

From the US and Australia to France and Italy, those seeking to obliterate privacy and restrict content are on the move Over the past two weeks, the UK has reportedly blocked internet users’ access to everything from SpongeBob SquarePants gifs to Spotify playlists. Information about Joe Biden’s police funding plan has been restricted, along with a post about an up-and-coming political party. Gamers say they have been unable to tweak colours in games such as Minecraft. And it’s all because of a new age verification law.Since the child safety provisions contained within the Online Safety Act came into effect on 25 July, web service providers have been forced to institute “highly effective” age verification measures to prevent children from accessing “harmful” or “adult” content. The penalty for failing to adequately comply with the act includes hefty fines and potential criminal action.Taylor Lorenz is a technology journalist who writes the newsletter User Mag and is the author of the...

Politics