Corporations aren't your friends, they don't care about the safety of kids, and they don't care about keeping your information safe- they only care about money. They would 100% throw you into Mount Doom for a goddamn nickle.
ID age verification isn't about keeping kids safe online, it's about your data, and it's about removing anonymity online so they can track your activity and use that information to better target advertisements and make their shareholders happy.
It's only a matter of time until there's a data breech (or your data just gets flat out sold) and YouTube just says "Whoops! Your legal government ID is now out there- and not only will you have NO recourse, but we'll receive ZERO repercussions!"
If you want to know more about how you can boycott YouTube, look under the cut for some easy steps you can take, as well as some alternatives to YouTube to fill the void:
Step one: Stop using YouTube (if you're required for school or work, do so with an adblocker, but aside from that avoid giving YouTube any traffic at all) Also, if you have YouTube Premium, cancel it.
Step two: Complain. Leave 1 star reviews in the app store and on google. Tell them why you're upset with this policy.
Step three: Spread the word! Make your own posts and/or memes. Just be sure to let people know the boycott is ongoing and that we won't be returning until we are heard.
Step five: Remember that we're boycotting YouTube/Spotify- NOT the creators on those platforms. Find other ways to support them. (i.e: do they have Patreon/Kofi? Something else? A different platform perhaps?)
This ties into Step Six, which is to find an alternative to fill the void. Personally, I've switched to podcasts and Internet Archive for the time being. Others have suggested Public Library sites (Libby, Hoopla, Overdrive, etc- PBS has lots of free shows); Bandcamp & SoundCloud for music; Twitch for streams; as well as Newgrounds, Bitview, and Glomble which are YouTube alternatives. And I'm sure there's plenty of other alternatives out there! (I have also seen some recommending NewPipe- but be aware that this still gives YouTube traffic)
And finally, Step seven: Encourage, don't shame. (This goes especially for those of us who have been already boycotting since August.) Shaming those who started boycotting later than you, or for boycotting 'imperfectly' will only hurt the cause by pushing people away. We need numbers for this to work, so encourage people to fight back- don't shame them for not getting there 'soon enough.'
That's all I got for now, just remember the important thing is that we don't stay silent and we fight back.
