For years, politicians from across the political spectrum insisted the Online Safety Act would focus solely on illegal content without threatening free expression. But from the moment its age-verification duties took effect on 25 July, that reassurance began to unravel.
Remember in 2012 how everyone was horrified when an authoritarian government like China forced everyone to disclose their identities to get online so they could track and censor them?
Now the authoritarians are here.