If they'd have tried to force old users to add their phone numbers, the backlash would be so massive that they'd be practically forced to drop that requirement. What especially pisses me off is that old accounts aren't required to add their phone number, meaning there won't be an exodus of users or any significant backlash it's a tactical decision on the part of Imgur, of course. Sorry for the rant, but Jesus fucking Christ this kind of shit pisses me off. Seeing that the default mentality is that there's nothing wrong with people being silenced or even executed for trying to enjoy the same freedoms we take for granted (even if it's condemned when it's hypothetical or on a case-by-case basis when the damage is already done), I don't have much hope, though. The UN already condemns laws restricting sexual expression, so logically they should also condemn anti-pornography laws.Īnyone who cares about freedom in their own country should also care about those things in other countries. The right to pornography should be a universal human right, just like it is already recognised by the UN that humans have the right to sexual expression it should be included under that. If the argument is "well, they are violating the law!", that'll bring draconian laws and human rights violations into the internet. "Who cares about pedophiles?" may be a fair point, but if they give out the personal information of users in one country for violating that country's pornography laws, there's no reason to assume they won't also give out the personal information of users in other countries for violating those countries' pornography laws.
Imgur has already given out the IP addresses of suspected pedophiles to the US government. In pornographically liberal countries it's not that big a deal because they won't give you shit for it, but imagine you live in Iran or China or Korea or other countries where porn is illegal. The government will know you registered on Imgur thanks to the phone verification, and again, because the only reason why you'd put your phone number on Imgur is to look at adult content, the government will know you look at adult content. and I say this as someone from a country with some of the laxest laws on porn, so for people in less-than-liberal countries it could mean a literal death sentence. In practice it means they'll brand someone who looks at gay porn a lot as being gay and someone who looks at BDSM porn a lot as being into BDSM, etc. They already openly state that they track your cookies, IP address, etc. Exactly, and when the only thing an account is required for is porn (especially when NSFW content isn't allowed to be publicly visible), that means they're specifically "branding" people who want to look at adult content.