To think the internet should be a little more controlled...

[jobhunter7]

It shouldn't be possible to access hardcore pornography so easily...
It shouldn't be so easy to troll people...
There should be more controls before things go live to the entire universe...

I'm completely non-techie and don't have a clue how the internet works, but I have wondered about making it less easy to be anonymous, as that seems to be what makes people less accountable. However I can't see a way to police that other than through specific websites and people could always just use others. And some may need to be anonymous to talk about sensitive things. What if everyone had an internet ID though, could that work or is it totally not a thing? I suspect the latter! But if it were possible at least everyone would be more aware there is a virtual paper trail that's quite easy to follow if they start sending out death threats etc, even if it's done anonymously. I know it could be used oppressively but there isn't really any other arena in which you could ever say anything you like with anonymous impunity, whether that's disinformation or being abusive.

@Aspiringmatriarch

I'm completely non-techie and don't have a clue how the internet works, but I have wondered about making it less easy to be anonymous, as that seems to be what makes people less accountable. However I can't see a way to police that other than through specific websites and people could always just use others. And some may need to be anonymous to talk about sensitive things. What if everyone had an internet ID though, could that work or is it totally not a thing? I suspect the latter! But if it were possible at least everyone would be more aware there is a virtual paper trail that's quite easy to follow if they start sending out death threats etc, even if it's done anonymously. I know it could be used oppressively but there isn't really any other arena in which you could ever say anything you like with anonymous impunity, whether that's disinformation or being abusive.

What you're talking about would need a global police state.

An "Internet ID" would only work if every country in the world agreed that this needed to happen. A single non-transferrable token for each individual person. It's plausible using blockchain technology. If a single country disagreed - and I can't see the US agreeing to this for one, let alone dodgy countries like China or Russia - the system wouldn't work though. A VPN allows anyone to pretend to be in just about any country in the world. So if the UK introduces this rule, anyone with bad intentions (to be honest, any vaguely tech-savvy and privacy-concerned person) will just route their connection through a VPN (or better, a series of VPNs).

Is that you China?

@jobhunter7

>I completely agree that the accessibility of porn and the lack of regulation is a huge worry. Young people have lost all idea of what normal is. >However I don’t know what the answer is. There will always be porn. It doesn’t matter what you do, porn is like nature, it will find a way.

True. But it used to be just on the top shelf of the newsagent before...

You are deluding yourself if you believe this. It may have been more difficult to find like minded individuals but they certainly found each other. They shared stuff they had in the physical realm rather than online. I saw some utterly depraved stuff as a child (forced to watch then re enact) Where exactly do you think he got it from? The internet was not even a thing back then.

Actually since the internet, what is "officially" allowed as porn has been massively liberalised.

Legal top shelf mags were very tame compared with what is available online now.

As with most things we have had to come into line with what is allowed in the USA, since the USA basically runs the Internet.

Of course there has always been a trade in illegal material - but a lot of what was illegal is now mainstream.

I guess we have to weigh up the pluses and minuses of the last 30 years...

I guess if the rules were changed, it may encourage uk companies to benefit over us companies...

And people should wash their hands before using it.