Elfs

Elfs

I like my edgy girls

Marie

basically, i think the general rule of thumb is: if someone REALLY wants the blood that’s inside of your body, and they’re like… a vampire, or a dracula, or some sort of mansquito, then that’s probably okay. a dracula and a mansquito are made for removing things like blood and swords from inside your body. that’s basically fine.

if something wants to get at your blood, and they’re, say, some kind of murdersaurus, or maybe a really big frog, that’s where the problems start to arise. a really frog is not made for removing blood, and your blood knows this, which is why it is so vehement about wanting to stay IN your body instead of coming out. 

unfortunately this will not deter a really big frog, because a really big frog is full of things like prizes, and value, and quite a lot of hatred, and it would REALLY rather like to replace any and all of those things with your blood, and basically by any means possible.

This is a terrifying norm I’ve been seeing in fandom recently, with a lot of people asking for photo ID’s to enter a server or for 18+ commissions or to follow a private Twitter account. While I understand the sentiment and realize that there’s an issue of minors trying to get into adult spaces, this is an incredibly dangerous practice that needs to stop.

I have seen this popping up more and more in the past year and frankly, I’m sick of sitting back and watching it become a social norm. Not to mention, there is a huge difference between a company with a team of lawyers and legal statements with the intention to protect your information and giving this to a random person online.

Here is an article from IAPP discussing more in depth the current difficulties for age verification online.  Thanks to @murmurkins for digging around to find this!

Here is also some resources for Discord specifically on how to moderate and run a server that has 18+ channels and designating a server as 18+. Discord also notes that if you are locked out of 18+ channels, you can appeal this by sending a picture of yourself and either a photo ID or your Discord tag. Again, while not a perfect solution, this is their last resort, not the intial requirement. It’s dangerous to do, and Discord recognizes this, which is why they have a system to protect your information AND they require that all third-party individuals have a privacy policy telling individuals how they will protect others’ information. 

If anyone wants to respond to this post with more information on other websites, feel free! The biggest issue I have seen with this is on Discord, so that is where my information is focused.

TL;DR: Don’t give your ID out online to random people for your safety. Make sure who you are giving personal information to has a privacy policy. While it is an issue that minors are accessing 18+ content, this is not a safe solution to the problem.