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.
If you’re worried about how the Internet affects children, be a parent and restrict your own child. What you think kids should be able to access has nothing to do with my rights to engage in free speech online, including my right to engage anonymously without putting doxxing material in a database just waiting to be compromised. Parent your own children, don’t try to make government parent other people’s children.