LOS ANGELES — While porn fans and privacy advocates in the free world decry authoritarian “age verification” (AV) schemes that mandate facial recognition scans for consumers seeking access to online adult entertainment, a new Chinese law has gone into effect that requires all purchasers of cell phones, services and SIM cards to prove their identity by having their faces scanned.
Announced in September by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and quickly enacted into law December 1 without being burdened by the delay-inducing public outrage that erupts when such proposals are made in democratic nations, the new law serves as a sharp reminder that “freedom of speech” is not a global right, but an American right — a right that must be spread far and wide, even as governments, groups and corporations the world over seek to curtail it.
China said it will use artificial intelligence and other technical means as part of its phone registration process, which it claims is necessary to “protect the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace.”
The move should come as no surprise to students of the scene, who have noted China’s ongoing efforts to control the conversations of its citizens by restricting access to internet services and sites — including porn, in particular — and identifying people based on their fingerprints, voiceprints, facial recognition and more.
This biometric data and other information such as creditworthiness, legal history and social media usage, is then compiled into vast databases to deliver a “social score” for each citizen — and to aid in the country’s broad civilian surveillance system, which boasts an estimated half-billion cameras, plus numerous other monitoring systems.
While it is easy for many observers to focus on the narrow view of controlling internet access in the name of AV or some notion of “combating trafficking,” it is vital that the bigger picture is not overlooked: the complete elimination of anonymity in any tangible sense is escalating.
In nations where dictum by decree must give way to democratic debate, the foes of free expression will always paint the need for control with the most extreme of examples. As America prepares to enter another election year, it is clear that the easy access to online porn will find its way into the conversation. Hopefully, the U.S. will not follow China’s example, as a result.
Click here for an English-language Quartz Magazine summary of the issue; click here for a BBC article on China's use of facial recognition technology in conjunction with the new law.