this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2026
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1044
Goodbye device ownership, and the last vestiges of free speech will die with this bill as well. (www.govtrack.us)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf to c/technology@lemmy.world
322 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

So, OS-level age-gating is going federal, which will effectively kill your rights to device ownership and what's left of free speech and expression.

Enjoy your free speech while you still have it because this is a clear attempt to erase that right.

SOPA never died, it just went into hiding until time to reemerge, and now's that time, this is basically SOPA in a save the kids trenchcoat.

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[–] tb_@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (3 children)

with phones that can be rooted

... for now. Samsung removed the ability to unlock the bootloader in an update.

And yes, there are other options. But Google is also cracking down on the openness of Android. I certainly can't take the ability to root as a given.

[–] DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)
[–] tb_@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yay :/

[–] DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

So far it's only been implemented successfully on modern Surface devices, but hypothetically any PC could implement it.

[–] quips@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Phones like fairphone will always have an unlocked bootloader

[–] tb_@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Unlockable, hopefully. If Google doesn't crack down further on it.

Earlier generations of the Fairphone simply had a root toggle in the settings, but they removed that.

(typing this on a fp6)

[–] quips@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Google cannot tell them what to do?

[–] tb_@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

They can if they want Google services.
There may have been concern from banking apps and the likes as well? Though it's been a while since I've looked it up.

Edit:

The Strategy

In general, it is difficult to balance the needs of the average user who benefits from Android’s built-in security mechanisms and the user who wants more freedom. Companies like Google and application developers expect their code to run on a trustworthy device and will only provide their services on such devices.

Fairphone has made the conscious choice not to offer an option to root the device on its Google-services enabled software.

On the Fairphone 2, Jan 2016

[–] lemmyng@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How far back are they pushing that update? Is it safe to assume that Samsung phones that can't go beyond One UI 7.x.y.z are still able to have unlockable bootloaders?

[–] tb_@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Likely? I don't know the details. My old S22 which did get updated no longer has the option.