> Lots of people keep mentioning these conspiracy theories but I still don't buy it.

EU is actively working on "age verification" through a digital wallet.

Once that is in place it is a small step to wall off the entire Internet unless you verify yourself through your digital ID.

Since Trump is as borderline fascist as von der Leyen there's no fucking doubt in my mind the United States will follow the EU as soon as there are signs of success or even earlier.

Proof: https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/av-doc-technic...

Especially note "The objective is to develop an EU-wide solution to age verification that reinforces the Digital Services Act (DSA) objective to ensure safe, secure, and trusted digital space and the Louvain-la-Neuve Declaration, which promotes a safer and more trustworthy online environment."

Whenever those in power talk about "security", "safety" and "trust" they talk about other things entirely which, for the larger public, have nothing to do with these topics at all.