A community for Lemmy users interested in privacy
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Apple iOS now requires age verification to access websites it deems 18+. Not even using another browser like Firefox works, it's blocked at the OS level.
I was putting off switching to Graphene or e/os until prices improve, but looks like my hand is forced.
Edit: VPN doesn't even work because Apple knows your GPS location. I haven't tried location spoofing yet because that's a bit more annoying to setup.
Toss that shit out the window!
How have we allowed this. Theres no going back ever. Welcome to dystopia.
FYI, there are no alternative browsers on iOS. Every single one is Safari with a skin, even Firefox. This is also a requirement by Apple, and one of the many reasons why I'll never own an iPhone. It's my device; I should be allowed to use any browser I want, install anything I want.
Yep, thats one reason why i went to e/OS. Never went back.
e/is here. A few months in on a Fairphone. Very happy so far
Im using it on the Teracube 2s (2025). Kinda laggy phone but very decent.
What the fuck? How is that legal.
It’s not…in the EU. So they lift the restriction there and there only. It’s clearly not a technical limitation, just greed.
This has actually not been the case, in most regions, since iOS 17.4. Chrome and Firefox now use Blink and Gecko, respectively. There are exceptions where WebKit is still to only engine including the EU.
The why is Firefox on my girlfriend's iPhone 15 Plus very obviously Safari?
Laughs on vpns
VPNs don’t work, the block works by GPS coordinates
why can you not spoof your GPS then?
you can on Android.
I'm not sure how that would work on an iPhone but I'm sure it's possible with a bit of technical know-how.
That's why people need to be against censorship, in principle. If people's only objection is that it 'isn't implemented correctly', people will just try and they again to implement it "correctly". We need to squash it down from the start.
Censorship just hurts marginalised youth, especially trans youth since HRT is so age sensitive. And you cannot trust parents to safeguard their kids, no, just because you gave birth to someone does not mean you know what's best for them, crazy ik
I got this same page when trying to connect to a WiFi hotspot (In the UK). Now I’m planning a migration plan for the family away from iOS.
Most people won’t care but for me this is where it crosses a line.
Yeah… this is the first time I've felt like someone reached into my device and said "no, fuck you." No tricks or traps work, because it's operating system level bullshit.
The thing I paid like $1600AUD for a few years ago is no longer my property; the terms have been changed retroactively. It makes me quite angry, actually.
It never was your property. Which is why I don't use devices with proprietary OS.
This isn’t required under Australian law, Apple can fuck right off.
Yeah these guys are overcomplying and promoting censorship. Never seen a big tech company take this stance. Fuck them. Post Covid big tech is shady as.
All Apple had to do was age verify their App Store. And on that they had the nerve to force it a month before quietly releasing a on device facial age estimation option rather than just rely on id or credit card. Forcing many to use id/credit card when esafety would have been lenient enough to wait.
Big tech has always been shady. Lockdowns just provided an easy powergrab and the means yo take the power without having to hide it.
Never seen a big tech company take this stance
Optus blocked 4chan after the Christchurch massacre. Nobody asked them to.
This looks like it's on another level though. That site is tame. Totally SFW.
That’s.. crazy. Though, they do this with discord too on iOS.
Is it possible to circumvent it with VPN?
VPN with custom DNS didn't work. Firefox didn't work either. It was an OS level A.I. block or something.
GPS spoofing might work, but I can't be bothered trying right now
Also a little bit annoying to setup but, what about an ssh tunnel using a SOCKS proxy? Although, I don’t know if it’s possible to do it on iOS, I’ve done it on macOS to bypass my university’s blocked websites
The only people who can control any apple device are the people working the back end of Apple's ecosystem
Did you know they already did that in the UK?...even though they weren't obligated to.
You can't VPN to the UK, Australia or any of the EU countries anymore because of this crap. And in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet, it's not about protecting kids from anything. It's about unmasking everyone online and the next step will be digital ID and CBDC
I wanted to rewatch a theater play filmed in the 80's on YouTube. This time it ask for my birth date to confirm I'm an adult. I clicked the button wondering which birth date I could have used on this account then it crashed. Tried thrice more, crashed each time.
We living in a decade where the quality of internet service decreased in a obvious way. At the same time, we should have more restriction and start paying for it. Big tech should at least be consistent.
Why you need to be over 18 for for that site? It's comedy and not pornography.
Did they also ban news websites or is that brainwashing allowed?
Try searching on startpage.com and from there click on visit in anonymous view ..
I was trying to research a meme I saw recently here on Lemmy. Someone posted a photo of ramen called "soup for sluts". I wanted to see if it was real, or A.I. generated like some commenters suggested.
Yeah the search result is just a comedy website making fun of the ramen. That's why I'm especially offended. My guess is that Apple simply detected the keywords in the title as pornography, rather than doing anything intelligent. I'd estimate that any website with the title containing naughty words would be blocked!
Good idea with the startpage thing, though. It actually works! It's a bit glitchy though; I was able to read for 10 seconds at a time before the website crashes. Better than nothing, though. Thanks!
My guess is that Apple simply detected the keywords in the title as pornography, rather than doing anything intelligent. I'd estimate that any website with the title containing naughty words would be blocked!
By including naughty words in the titles of a bunch of important web pages, we could show them the stupidity of that move.