# Discord will soon require face scans or ID for all users, or restrict access **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/discord-will-soon-require-face-scans-or-id-for-all-users-or-restrict-access/35323 **Category:** News **Created:** 2026-02-09T15:08:05Z **Posts:** 106 ## Post 1 by @Throwaway — 2026-02-09T15:08:05Z > **[Discord will soon require face scans or ID for all users, or restrict access...](https://9to5mac.com/2026/02/09/discord-will-soon-require-face-scans-or-id-for-all-users-or-restrict-access/)** > > Discord has announced that all users will soon be required to submit age verification, or be given teen-level access restrictions. --- ## Post 2 by @anonymous549 — 2026-02-09T15:15:09Z Not a fan of this type of stuff but this seems like a small positive. > - **On-device processing:** Video selfies for facial age estimation never leave a user’s device. --- ## Post 3 by @Scott — 2026-02-09T15:29:21Z I highly doubt if that will work without a Google or Apple account. --- ## Post 4 by @fria — 2026-02-09T15:41:24Z Still, giving any app camera access unlocks the potential for abuse. --- ## Post 5 by @SYST3M_D3STR0YER — 2026-02-09T15:49:36Z Why? I mean, you can just withdraw the camera access permission right after the age verfification, can‘t you? --- ## Post 6 by @fria — 2026-02-09T15:55:50Z Giving discord camera permissions and a scan of your face is putting complete trust in Discord including trust that it’s not compromised. --- ## Post 7 by @anonymous549 — 2026-02-09T15:58:13Z Yeah I didn’t consider that. Good point. --- ## Post 8 by @null — 2026-02-09T16:46:36Z Would people not just slowly start to migrate to other platforms? --- ## Post 9 by @Throwaway — 2026-02-09T16:47:08Z I have a throwaway account on discord for a boring non-controversial topic. Unfortunately that’s where the relevant chatter is located. However being downgraded to a teenager account would likely not be an issue for me based on the content, so I will be ignoring any request to provide ID. No way. --- ## Post 10 by @Securely0845 — 2026-02-09T16:52:20Z After their data breach last year, I have zero trust in anything they claim for how the verification processing works, I’ll find a new platform before I give them that level of PII. --- ## Post 11 by @destroy1234 — 2026-02-09T16:54:25Z my fav podcast restarted the backup server right after this news came out lol --- ## Post 12 by @Throwaway — 2026-02-09T16:55:06Z I first became aware of discord years ago when news came out that a lot of people in a hate march coordinated on it. Sounds like a cesspool of shit but unfortunately some normal people use it for gaming and other topics (their icon is a game controller). I want nothing to do with linking my identity to that service. --- ## Post 13 by @PurpleDime — 2026-02-09T17:00:18Z This is the direct result of enough countries passing ID verification laws for online platforms. Some people may dismiss it when it’s not their country who passes that law, or if it is, they don’t worry because they think they can use a VPN. But when enough countries pass those laws, and those laws apply to VPNs too, it becomes easier for platforms to apply these rules to everyone, rather than just some people. **WE ARE IN THIS FIGHT TOGETHER!** When one country passes ID verification laws, we should raise our voices, even if it’s not in our part of the world. This absolutely sucks! I know a lot of vulnerable communities who use Discord for support. Moreover, quite a few of my favorite YouTubers have Discord. I have never joined them, but I would hope that creators raise their voices and boycott the platform. --- ## Post 14 by @bsd — 2026-02-09T17:06:28Z Teamspeak is looking pretty good right now. Teamspeak 6 client in beta. looks discord like and is self hostable. --- ## Post 15 by @Carey — 2026-02-09T16:18:07Z > **[Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month](https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out)** > > Age verification for all. --- ## Post 16 by @Securely0845 — 2026-02-09T17:14:07Z Yeah, unfortunately I use it for some gaming circles and weekly D&D sessions, so it’s going to be a task to convince people to move away from them. --- ## Post 17 by @kissu — 2026-02-09T17:26:45Z > [@Throwaway](#): > > people use it for gaming and other topics (their icon is a game controller) Honestly, self-host a mumble for your friends. Faster, better and without the ads. > [@PurpleDime](#): > > I have never joined them, but I would hope that creators raise their voices and boycott the platform. Would be nice if people started doing things in the open, like a Discourse indeed. > [@bsd](#): > > eamspeak is looking pretty good right now. [Consider Mumble over TS](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/looking-for-push-to-talk-recommendations/34906/2). :slight_smile: Not like you will notice a difference on the end user experience but it has the edge of being FOSS. > [@Securely0845](#): > > so it’s going to be a task to convince people to move away from them. Try to do the hard part yourself then show them how easy it is to be elsewhere and they should experience less friction as a whole. > [@anonymous549](#): > > Not a fan of this type of stuff but this seems like a small positive. Yeah. That’s a claim, at best. > [@SYST3M_D3STR0YER](#): > > Why? I mean, you can just withdraw the camera access permission right after the age verfification, can‘t you? Just let it casually upload your face and full photo library for 10min, then remove the permission? Defeats the whole purpose of permission. Also, once exfiltrated from your phone, there is nothing to really be worried about. It takes mere seconds/minutes to upload the integrity of your mobile phone’s photo library to a CDN like AWS S3 if connected to the WiFi. Especially because this can be done in the background. * * * Guess it’s really time to move away from Discord. :relieved_face: Was never a good platform to begin with tbh, not a huge loss. --- ## Post 18 by @Libre_Software_Enjoyer — 2026-02-09T17:37:21Z Do I read it right that it will only affect people who use Discord for NSFW stuff? Anyway, people should switch to Matrix --- ## Post 19 by @redoomed1 — 2026-02-15T16:32:00Z 35 posts were merged into an existing topic: [Should we use an alternative to Discord? What would that be?](/t/should-we-use-an-alternative-to-discord-what-would-that-be/14178/3) --- ## Post 20 by @kissu — 2026-02-09T17:55:19Z Probably how it should be in theory[[1]](#footnote-138272-1) but it will probably ripple down to any kind of general types of servers down the road too. Things for adults are not black&white as for drugs, sex and gambling. Gray lines also exist and they will probably be pushed into it too. Also, I don’t see why it would just stop there. No reason for them to not PII all the way in a few months, because other nonsense regulation or just…why not? :woman_shrugging:t2: > [@Should we use an alternative to Discord? What would that be?](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/should-we-use-an-alternative-to-discord-what-would-that-be/14178/3): > > Once Steam added support for group voice calls I never went back to Discord Never saw that one. Guess it’s cool but careful of not locking yourself into another platform. :sweat_smile: * * * 1. I didn’t even knew NSFW was a thing there :speak_no_evil_monkey: [↩︎](#footnote-ref-138272-1) --- ## Post 23 by @Throwaway — 2026-02-09T20:35:49Z > [@Securely0845](#): > > unfortunately I use it for some gaming circles and weekly D&D sessions, so it’s going to be a task to convince people to move away from them. If your chats are already considered SFW then maybe you can continue without verification. --- ## Post 24 by @ramusica — 2026-02-10T06:41:39Z > **[Discord Launches Teen-by-Default Settings Globally](https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-launches-teen-by-default-settings-globally)** > > Discord is announcing enhanced teen safety features rolling out globally that reinforce its long-standing commitment to creating a safer and more inclusive experience for users over the age of 13. --- ## Post 25 by @Breeze7846 — 2026-02-10T06:58:22Z _groan_…. was inevitable. I was hoping we had another year. What are even the alternatives though? Gamers are used to discord. Mumble is… well, it lacks features. Team speak is not open source Elements the UI is… well, its so close, and yet it misses a few crucial parts… And yeah. We all get teen accounts. _For now_. I’m not holding my breath about the future --- ## Post 26 by @Cyber-Typhoon — 2026-02-10T07:47:54Z In my opinion Discord did a good work to improve the group multi platform chat communication promoting a modern UI. It made difficult to people accept “clean” UI, like mIRC. Trying to convince general audience to migrate from Discord is really hard. I feel that there is a real gap between the proprietary featured offering (Discord) and the open source options. This is how things would be for messaging if Signal didn’t exists. --- ## Post 27 by @SYST3M_D3STR0YER — 2026-02-10T07:51:56Z > [@Cyber-Typhoon](#): > > Trying to convince general audience to migrate from Discord is really hard. Yeah that‘s right :sad_but_relieved_face: I wish Discord, WhatsApp and especially Telegram would make like every time opening it and every 15 minutes a 2 minute ad because then people would switch as it would be too annoying :slightly_smiling_face: --- ## Post 32 by @redoomed1 — 2026-02-15T15:34:49Z 10 posts were merged into an existing topic: [Revolt is now Stoat](/t/revolt-is-now-stoat/32176/9) --- ## Post 35 by @velsolus — 2026-02-10T16:44:53Z Just a reminder that most of these face scanning tools are complete garbage and can be bypassed by scanning any random persons face from the internet or even gmod characters :joy:. No need to use your ID --- ## Post 36 by @kissu — 2026-02-10T17:44:27Z How I look in real life ![Death-Stranding-2-Header](https://forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/3X/5/d/5d9130065488fd4673ead19c2944c59e55ea45b7.jpeg) --- ## Post 37 by @any1 — 2026-02-10T18:08:20Z Maybe the baby can pass the verification too. --- ## Post 42 by @Reseal — 2026-02-11T00:02:29Z Another option is to just bypass it when it comes out, I can almost guarantee full guides the day of comes out. It would no doubt be better if online communities moved away from such a closed platform that is starting to focus more on monetization, but as some others have stated it currently provides the most frictionless experience and has a very low barrier of entry making it very enticing for non technical users. --- ## Post 57 by @anon0179693 — 2026-02-11T10:33:29Z > [@Should we use an alternative to Discord? What would that be?](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/should-we-use-an-alternative-to-discord-what-would-that-be/14178/24): > > At some point, maybe people will realize that locking themselves into a private platform is maybe the issue? > But I am overall not too optimistic about that mindset shift. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: People are realizing with age verification being rolled out globally but genuinely not to sound defeatist because this is based on my own experience seeing what happens when situations like these escalate, if they see it doesn’t affect them, they move on or find workarounds. This is also speaking as someone who I’ve been set foot on only allowing DM communication through things like SimpleX and Signal, People have actively refused or (even if that one time only rightfully) called me sketchy for even setting that boundary, even ones we trusted and established communication still refused to do so. Only one, who is also a dutch person last I checked actually accepted the transition to signal for me, none else. I think if you’re in that similar situation there are criterias you can tell to meet, but even those won’t budge them in my experience. It’s a classic wait for the drama to fade out and pretend nothing happened according to [this google trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%207-d&q=discord%20alternative,discord%20age%20verification&hl=en). Slovenia, Portugal and France are the ones actively searching (users on google in that country) over the past week for alternatives. --- ## Post 64 by @Smith — 2026-02-11T13:29:10Z I do not like the approach that every app in the universe will have to comply to these new surveillance capitalism laws and create their own ID or facial verification system, but the world seems to go that way. Operating systems have parental controls, but they are often insufficient and have too many weaknesses - I would have preferred an easier solution for parents to restrict activity for their kids on that global OS level though. Instead of forcing people to share their biometric data to companies, even if its supposed to be on-device for Discord, it isn’t for others. When I was using Discord for gaming years ago, and they had this server search website, not sure if they still have it, there were many questionable animestyle server alike “Dating for 13+”:face_vomiting: It must have been a paradise for pedos. So there was definitely some action needed to get rid of that. Which makes me wonder now, if these “recruiting” servers, as they are not showing age-restricted content, are they even affected by this…? As much as I like privacy, I somewhat agree that kids do not belong on social media before 14-16. Or they need a social media just for kids. But as these scanners can get easily bypassed, it seems meaningless right now. So all these “solutions”, that aim to protect kids, seem to have not the desired effect in the end. As for alternatives, believe it or not I think forums are still good and more structured than an endless feed. For voice and video sharing, there are numerous alternatives. But all the bots written for Discord, they will be hard to port to another platform. It would need something compatible. Telegram would be something like that, but I do not trust its security and Russian roots. Some lovechild of Discord+Telegram for open source community would be huge to bring hundred thousands of people to one server. Question is how to finance, donations are rarely enough. --- ## Post 66 by @JOETHEONE — 2026-02-11T13:42:54Z They still claim that it’s e2e encrypted, but I really doubt it. --- ## Post 67 by @anon0179693 — 2026-02-11T13:43:19Z they never claimed it was E2EE --- ## Post 70 by @anonymous549 — 2026-02-11T13:56:46Z > **[GitHub - promptpirate-x/discord-id-bypass-tool: A verified tool that works on any potato computer...](https://github.com/promptpirate-x/discord-id-bypass-tool)** > > A verified tool that works on any potato computer that will let you bypass discord verification --- ## Post 72 by @kissu — 2026-02-11T13:59:36Z > [@Smith](#): > > I would have preferred an easier solution for parents to restrict activity for their kids on that global OS level though Having a DNS filter on your home router is one way to achieve that. > [@Smith](#): > > I somewhat agree that kids do not belong on social media before 14-16 I don’t see how it’s more useful/needed for an adult over a kid. It’s toxic for both and should be avoided altogether. --- ## Post 76 by @mauvehed — 2026-02-11T14:05:46Z > [@Should we use an alternative to Discord? What would that be?](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/should-we-use-an-alternative-to-discord-what-would-that-be/14178/24): > > Tbh, Discord also took years to be popular and de-facto the default. But yeah, it’s annoying when companies do those kind of moves that force people to move elsewhere. VERY true! Discord has come a long ways in the last few years. --- ## Post 78 by @Man — 2026-02-11T14:11:29Z > [@Smith](#): > > But all the bots written for Discord, they will be hard to port to another platform. I question the value of bots. The only useful functionality I can think of should be written into the core program. Let’s say I want to read the !r_ules_ or # _FAQ_. Summoning a bot for this purpose adds complexity. I’ve been out of the Discord loop for years but Reddit bots are annoying. If I do a web search the bot comment shows first and displaces user contributions. I don’t care what a bot has to say about political memes. --- ## Post 80 by @Smith — 2026-02-11T14:15:18Z > [@kissu](#): > > Having a DNS filter on your home router is one way to achieve that. Yes, I am doing that! Bit offtopic but: I am thinking of what to do on the phone when its not on the home network. I can install RethinkDNS, but I am not sure if parental controls can just disable the ability to change the “Always-On VPN” in the system settings, which then bypasses the DNS resolver. Used to be like that in the past I think. Not sure if even apple fixed it for their devices, seeing the same issue here > **[Security Verification](https://discussions.apple.com/verify-human/verify.html?next=%2Fthread%2F255005942?sortBy=rank)** > > Security verification page to protect against malicious bots. So the OS level makes it possible to just ignore it, even if I lock up the DNS app. --- ## Post 83 by @kissu — 2026-02-11T17:56:31Z > [@Smith](#): > > I am thinking of what to do on the phone when its not on the home network. Tailscale/Netbird to have them always on the home network. --- ## Post 85 by @kissu — 2026-02-15T14:15:59Z Very cool video on the topic > **[Discord's Disturbing Ties to Global Surveillance | ID Verification, Palantir,...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhxsE8dvbs4)** > > Sponsor: APNX V2 Case on Amazon https://geni.us/gLRAxDDiscord has announced that it will begin requiring government-issued ID or face scans for use of large ... --- ## Post 86 by @User53 — 2026-02-15T19:30:28Z The problem is that the government is trying to do the job that parents are supposed to do --- ## Post 87 by @TwoBibleTree — 2026-02-15T19:49:52Z So what is gonna happen when many teens use tools and tricks to bypass discord’s verification? Is there going to be a retaliation like forced id check with picture of your ID or something? Which can also be bypassed I’m sure or at least kids can always use the ID of someone else… I talked to some people my age (25) and they will comply fully with the check, no questions asked. Perhaps tech-savvy kids will be safer but not good citizens that respect law and obligations. That’s what I fear. --- ## Post 88 by @null — 2026-02-15T20:50:54Z Mandatory state-run electronic identification look at Denmark’s MitID, Switzerland’s SwissID, UK’s digital ID etc just everywhere. --- ## Post 89 by @me — 2026-02-15T22:25:02Z > **[Where age verification is (or will be) required - Age Verification Wants Your...](https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/05/06/age-verification-wants-your-face/#where-age-verification-is-or-will-be-required)** > > In April this year, Discord started to test age verification systems using facial or ID scans, as a way to comply with Australia's and UK's new laws. | Age verification laws forcing platforms to restrict access to content online have been multiplying... > In April this year, [Discord started to test age verification systems](https://www.theverge.com/news/650493/discord-age-verification-face-id-scan-experiment) using facial or ID scans, as a way to comply with [Australia](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89vjj0lxx9o)’s and [UK](https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23922397/uk-online-safety-bill-law-passed-royal-assent-moderation-regulation)’s new laws. > [. . .] but don’t be surprised if it soon gets implemented at the account level for users everywhere. @em totally called it. > [@anonymous549](#): > > Not a fan of this type of stuff but this seems like a small positive. > > > - **On-device processing:** Video selfies for facial age estimation never leave a user’s device. The last thing I want to be is Mr Dystopian, but combining the increasing adoption of ID/age verification for mundane things with the recent events surrounding ICE and their subpoenas[[1]](#footnote-139835-1), I fear that the future is looking very dark and despotic. If age verification is inevitable, which it is looking to be, then the next best thing is to ensure that it is private wherever it is implemented. So I agree that this is a positive, if anything. However, take a look at this paragraph from Em’s article (linked above): > Conducting verification “on-device” offers only few additional protections considering this information still has to be checked and reported with an external service, somehow. > > Moreover, processes used to keep this data “on-device” are often opaque. Taking into account how valuable this information is, it becomes very difficult to trust any for-profit third-party services which such a sensitive task. There needs to be additional protections to ensure privacy. Not just at a legal level, but at a technical level. The on-device processing also only refers to facial scans. The other method for verification, which is more invasive to privacy, is the use of official identity documents. Discord claims this method is “privacy-forward” in the following ways: > **Quick deletion** : Identity documents submitted to our vendor partners are deleted quickly— in most cases, immediately after age confirmation. > IDs are used to get your age only and then deleted. > Discord only receives your age — that’s it. Your identity is never associated with your account. > Our vendors perform these verifications in a way to minimize the data collected and stored. [. . .] IDs are processed to get your age only and then deleted. The privacy advocate’s goal is to keep Discord accounts and legal identities decoupled, so this is good if we take it at face value. But it’s unclear to me how they guarantee this. Is this more like a privacy policy? or is it impossible on a technical level? Which vendors are they using? They claim that they and their vendors quickly delete any submitted identity documents, but they also “minimize” stored data. What other data do they store? and is this stored data able to backtrack the submitted identity documents (effectively mitigating privacy protections)? * * * 1. > [@New York Times: Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/new-york-times-homeland-security-wants-social-media-sites-to-expose-anti-ice-accounts/35469): > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/dhs-anti-ice-social-media.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/dhs-anti-ice-social-media.html) [[1]](#footnote-139448-1) In recent months, Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security, according to four government officials and tech employees privy to the requests. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Google, Meta and Reddit complied with some of the requests, … [↩︎](#footnote-ref-139835-1) --- ## Post 90 by @Throwaway — 2026-02-15T22:45:51Z After thinking about this a bit, my prediction is that Apple will step in with a solution. I’ve already added my US passport info to the iOS wallet app for domestic flight use. My guess is they will come up with a way to use it to prove adult status to third parties in a blind way where they don’t see your name. Just a confirmation that you’re an adult. --- ## Post 91 by @fria — 2026-02-15T23:20:30Z They’ve already got one, although I haven’t seen anywhere I can use it yet: > **[Get started with ID Verifier - Apple Developer](https://developer.apple.com/wallet/id-verifier/)** > > ID Verifier-enabled apps allow businesses and organizations to use an iPhone to easily accept mobile IDs in person — without the need for external hardware. --- ## Post 93 by @Libre_Software_Enjoyer — 2026-02-18T00:55:28Z > [@User53](#): > > The problem is that the government is trying to do the job that parents are supposed to do This is at the core of the issue --- ## Post 94 by @Throwaway — 2026-02-18T01:54:20Z Can a parent be on the school bus when your kid who doesn’t have a phone is exposed to god-knows-what by another kid who dos have one? It’s far too easy to dismiss this as a parenting issue. Especially when many people saying that don’t have kids. --- ## Post 95 by @velsolus — 2026-02-18T20:32:34Z That’s how the world has always worked. There’s a difference between looking over someones shoulder and seeing a pair of titties and having complete access to the degeneracy of the internet 24/7 mods if this breaks the rules just remove it and tell me lol --- ## Post 96 by @kissu — 2026-02-18T20:33:53Z I’m so sad there is not _tats_ fruit emoji available right now. :joy: --- ## Post 97 by @Libre_Software_Enjoyer — 2026-02-19T17:04:46Z > [@Throwaway](#): > > Can a parent be on the school bus when your kid who doesn’t have a phone is exposed to god-knows-what by another kid who dos have one? It’s far too easy to dismiss this as a parenting issue. Especially when many people saying that don’t have kids. I don’t blame the parents. I would say the think what we need are free software based parental control solutions, instead of government intervention by means of trying forcing ID checks on everything. If the government wants to help, they should fund such tools instead of making new laws. --- ## Post 98 by @win11.shading291 — 2026-02-20T00:55:17Z > [@Libre_Software_Enjoyer](#): > > I would say the think what we need are free software based parental control solutions, instead of government intervention by means of trying forcing ID checks on everything. Everything is already available at the router level. And it’s not complicated. It’s just _scary_ for non tech-users. Most countries are teaching kids how to do math the conventional way, before showing how a calculator works. We’re missing that for tech. --- ## Post 99 by @kissu — 2026-02-20T09:03:22Z > [@win11.shading291](#): > > Most countries are teaching kids how to do math the conventional way, before showing how a calculator works. > > We’re missing that for tech. :index_pointing_up:t2::100: this one. The amount of stuff I studied at school like: - how some countries were at war for no real useful purpose - how is the geo-political situation of a country at the opposite of the globe - the subjective opinions on an old man regarding people’s life choices - how to ask for a bill at a restaurant in spanish - etc, etc, etc That’s cool, I guess. Oh but I learned how a DNS works and what a WiFi SSID is by myself. And everything else that I do use on a daily basis while interact with any device with a slice of RAM in it. Sad that we indeed do not teach that where I grew up[[1]](#footnote-140641-1). Yet everybody needs to use different UIs, security protocols and various tools every single day. Priorities are not the same for everybody but could be nice if people would have had that taught to them, for sure. :mending_heart: * * * 1. I mean they do at Uni, if you ever go there :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: [↩︎](#footnote-ref-140641-1) --- ## Post 100 by @Libre_Software_Enjoyer — 2026-02-26T19:36:31Z > [@win11.shading291](#): > > Everything is already available at the router level. And it’s not complicated. It’s just _scary_ for non tech-users. If a device has a SIM card, it can circumvent any router level restriction for itself and any device it can grant hotspot/tethering to. The solution would be to have a tamper proof module embeded into the operating system, where parental control apps can build own. --- ## Post 101 by @Libre_Software_Enjoyer — 2026-02-26T19:37:49Z > [@kissu](#): > > The amount of stuff I studied at school like: > > - how some countries were at war for no real useful purpose > - how is the geo-political situation of a country at the opposite of the globe > - the subjective opinions on an old man regarding people’s life choices > - how to ask for a bill at a restaurant in spanish > - etc, etc, etc > > That’s cool, I guess. > Oh but I learned how a DNS works and what a WiFi SSID is by myself. And everything else that I do use on a daily basis while interact with any device with a slice of RAM in it. The school system wastes so many time my teaching low utility knowledge --- ## Post 103 by @User53 — 2026-03-18T09:53:41Z > [@Throwaway](#): > > Can a parent be on the school bus when your kid who doesn’t have a phone is exposed to god-knows-what by another kid who dos have one? It’s far too easy to dismiss this as a parenting issue. Especially when many people saying that don’t have kids. I never witnessed that people show each other porn on the bus, and even if it happens one time, what do you think would hapen? --- ## Post 104 by @PurpleDime — 2026-03-18T11:50:33Z @Throwaway makes a valid point. Parenting alone is not enough. Even the best parents will come short, because there’s no such thing as a perfect parent. No parent knows everything. No parents can teach their kids everything. Other institutions like school and the right government policies matter. They have a role to play. --- ## Post 105 by @User53 — 2026-05-31T20:43:04Z > [@User53](#): > > ![](https://forum-cdn.privacyguides.net/user_avatar/discuss.privacyguides.net/throwaway/48/7_2.png) Throwaway: > > > Can a parent be on the school bus when your kid who doesn’t have a phone is exposed to god-knows-what by another kid who dos have one? It’s far too easy to dismiss this as a parenting issue. Especially when many people saying that don’t have kids. > > I never witnessed that people show each other porn on the bus, and even if it happens one time, what do you think would hapen? I want to add to this that I would like to know what you expect the government to do? I think playing porn in public would be public disturbance and be illegal anyway --- ## Post 106 by @_TrustyRocinante — 2026-06-01T04:27:51Z I think it’s a similar societal problem as the war on drugs. The government can “crack down” on these things and tighten laws around access, but if there’s a deep desire for drugs/porn then people will find a way regardless. I think the only viable government solution is to invest in areas that cause or study this desire in the first place. People don’t do meth because it’s cool. They do it because it fills an emotional void. I don’t think porn is much different, but obviously not as immediately destructive as _meth_. This is also very broad and vague, but I think it’s a better direction than banning VPNs and forcing ID verification. I do see the merit in _some_ prohibition laws to destructive substances (e.g., ID to buy liquor), but it’s a fine line between consumer safety and consumer freedom (US alcohol prohibition).