Jess Kinghorn, hardware writer(Image credit: Future)This week I’ve been: Taking to Discord to sell my favourite weirdoes on my current cozy games of choice: Starsand Island, Potionomics, and Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale.Currently, I can’t check my Bluesky direct messages until I’ve allowed the Epic Games-owned KWS to look at either my bank card, my ID, or my wizened visage. As I’m based in the UK, it’s not just Bluesky I’ve got to worry about either, with similar verification processes now present on Reddit, Discord, and even my partner’s Xbox.This is all due to the Online Safety Act, which came into effect in the UK last year. For many, these age checks are an annoyance at best—but they also represent something that will have ramifications far beyond the British Isles. The UK’s Act was designed in part to ensure children in the UK could not easily access “harmful content.” This is a broad term that includes but is not limited to pornography, content that promotes “self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide,” and “bullying”.To comply with the act and differentiate children from the adults, many platforms have opted for age-gates like the one I’m encountering on Bluesky. Almost 70% of Brits surveyed shortly after the Online Safety Act came into effect said they supported it…though 64% didn’t think it would be all that effective. Indeed, I could log into a VPN to get past the UK-based Bluesky block—though unfortunately for me, I am stubborn, lazy, and cheap (apologies if you’ve been trying…
