Online ~~age~~ identity verification is rolling out in the UK. Pundits expect an enthusiastic rollout of similar laws in the US this fall. I'm in Canada, per the OP instance.
I don't have a computer scientist background. I don't understand this stuff. I find the most credible-sounding person I can and basically trust them on whether or not this stuff can realistically be implemented in a privacy-respecting fashion. I don't think it can be.
I know how I'll probably handle online identity verification laws when then land on my shores. I'll refuse to participate in any new age of online identity verfication insofar as I can:
- I might not be able to access content via anonymous frontends of YT, twitter, and reddit that I occasionally use
- Probably can't access porn or buy anything sex-related online
- Might be limited in accessing other content of personal interest (e.g., LGBTQ+ sites, non-mainstream news)
- Probably have to go in-person for government or commercial services more often
- Most of all I think I'd miss the Fediverse
In putting these thoughts to figurative paper, I think I realize my best strategy. It's to be prepared to shift to other online platforms. Because freethinking people will shift if they have to. I don't want to get left behind. Any advice on how to prepare or what to look into (as a layperson)?
Will Lemmy and other Fediverse sites be able to remain operational without enacting identity verification if they ensure there's no restricted material on their websites? And say let's for example that this just means porn (and not LGBTQ+, anti-fascism, anti-zionism etc; ie, chilled free speech around very broadly relevant content), is that possible as is without paid admin/mods?
-Dumb and worried
Chances are the implementation will be either a bill in our Parliament, or a treaty we ratify with the US, EU or another country.
The current potential invasion of privacy we need to fight is Bill C-2, which among other things effectively compels companies to give secret government backdoors to customer data when served flimsier versions of warrants. Some of the bill is okay IMO, but it is so wide-ranging that it needs to be split up, parts like section 15 withdrawn or heavily revised to ensure we don't end up like the USA's near-complete lack of digital privacy.
Canada's version is currently hanging out in the Senate: https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/45-1/s-209
Here's some background and detailed analysis about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBJe3gB2Po4
https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/05/herewegoagain/
And yeah C-2 is also bad. As you point out, these sorts of things are often coordinated and some of that is at least documented in the form of treaties. That was really not made clear in the case of C-2 but it very much is:
https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/a-preliminary-analysis-of-bill-c-2/