If that's been their goal for decades then there would be something written down to that effect. Policy statements, press releases, meeting minutes.... Got anything?
Comment on The Age-Checked Internet Has Arrived
WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Since the earliest days of the internet, governments have been scheming to gain control over the dissemination of content - to have authority over what people can and cannot see.
Autocracies like Russia, China and North Korea simply established censorships regimes, but the best that western governments have generally been able to do is ban content that is illegal in and of itself, like child porn. Their goal, all along, has been to establish systems by which to censor content that is not in and of itself illegal.
This is the most success they’ve had yet.
rimu@piefed.social 1 day ago
WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
jim3692@discuss.online 1 day ago
Of course there is no public evidence. It’s just a very probable speculation that governments want to control the internet.
Back in the days of newspapers/radio/tv, governments had control as they could easily go after news outlets.
However, with internet, they lost this power. They have been trying hard to regain the power of controlling information. The latest success was masking moderation as child protection.
Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
There is a long history of proposed bills, and other legal maneuvers, to require ID for things like age verification, and other purposes, from around the world, dating back to the 90s. When COPPA was in the proposal state there was tons of discussion about ID requirements, it was ultimately struck down, but the conversation was being had.
I can remember this being discussed on CSPAN back when I was in high school, in the 90s.
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
The people technologically competent enough to pull it off are usually not stupid enough to want to pull it off and make their lives harder.
They also generally make more money not working for the government.
rottingleaf@lemmy.world 1 day ago
That’s just not true. People (including competent enough) are well willing to make the society worse for everyone if they are going to be gentry. That’s been this way for all of human history, thinking otherwise is that new thing of the 90s, when American exceptionalism has been expanded into “post-Cold-War globalist” world exceptionalism, similarly to how Judaism expanded into Christianity.
WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
That’s likely true.
But that’s not going to stop governments from trying, and mostly succeeding, since beating their censorship will require both the will and the ability to break the law. Granted that their systems will certainly be flawed, it will still require at least some minimal technical ability to beat them, which will put it out of reach of many.
And it will also provide the governments with a handy fallback charge to bring against pretty much anyone they deem troublesome enough, since they’ll almost certainly be among those who are breaking the law by beating the system.