Warning to users here: comments are now starting to be covered by data mining message, "...violated your country's Safety Act..." and wants verification of your age. The speech bubble at the bottom of the screen also says this now. When I clicked to verify my age, Substack also wanted photos of my face! This is the start of narrative control here. Time for another platform.
Thanks for the heads-up. I looked into this because it sounded alarming. What’s happening is actually tied to government regulations in a few specific countries (mainly the UK and Australia), not a new Substack policy to “control narratives.”
Substack published an explainer here:
Why Substack is asking to verify your age
Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, platforms are legally required to verify a user’s age before showing certain types of content. Substack’s 18+ policy is here:
Substack 18+ Content Policy
Substack has also publicly opposed these laws and explained the tension between free expression and compliance:
Our Position on the Online Safety Act
A few important clarifications:
• The messages you’re seeing aren’t global. Most U.S. readers never encounter them.
• The “verification” flow (including photos) comes from Persona, the identity vendor Substack uses to comply with those countries’ laws.
• It’s not about comments specifically — the law requires age-gating across any part of the platform that could contain restricted content.
• Substack isn’t mining data for its own use; it’s responding to external legal requirements.
Totally understand why it felt concerning but the root issue is government regulation, not Substack secretly trying to clamp down on speech.
It does, if you take things at face value. Hope what you say is true. In any case, I'm not willing to give biometrics and other personal information. I feel, because of this, you maybe losing viewers unless you also start posting on another platform. YouTube is threatening independent journalists there, which is why many also post here.
This is essential — we must stand up and stand together against racism and fascism in this country
THE COMMON GOOD MANIFESTO
A society built for people, not predators.
We are at our best when we invest in each other.
We are at our worst when we abandon the vulnerable.
This manifesto is how we return to the common good.
I. DIGNITY AND JUSTICE
1. Release the Epstein files — full transparency, no exceptions.
2. Impeach, convict, and imprison Donald Trump and every handler who enabled his corruption.
3. No federal office for any convicted felon.
4. End the weaponization of the justice system against the poor, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and marginalized communities.
II. DEMOCRACY THAT ACTUALLY WORKS
1. Abolish the Electoral College — one person, one vote.
2. Abolish ICE — replace it with humane immigration policy that honors human rights.
3. Ban gerrymandering with a standardized national apportionment method.
4. Two-term limits for every elected office.
5. Mandatory retirement at 70 for all elected officials.
6. Paper ballots only — end the era of hackable voting machines.
III. AN ECONOMY THAT SERVES PEOPLE
1. Restore 1950s-style progressive tax rates — when America was prosperous and fair.
2. Overturn Citizens United — corporations are not people.
3. Eliminate the Social Security payroll cap and tax capital gains for Social Security contributions.
4. $25 minimum wage indexed to inflation.
5. Medicare for All, one unified system — no A/B/C/D maze.
6. Congress receives Medicare, not boutique private insurance.
IV. WORKERS, CREATIVES, AND PUBLIC SERVANTS
1. Big pay raises for social workers, teachers, librarians, artists, and cultural workers — the people who actually hold society together.
2. Universal childcare — because families are the foundation of the nation.
3. Free public university education.
4. Full forgiveness of all student debt.
V. CLEAN GOVERNMENT
1. Root out corruption at every level, starting at the top.
2. Full financial transparency for every elected official, appointee, and senior bureaucrat.
3. Ban lobbying for former officeholders for life.
VI. THE FUTURE WE CHOOSE
We choose a country that values:
• Compassion over cruelty
• Community over greed
• Truth over propaganda
• Shared prosperity over billionaire hoarding
• Democracy over minority rule
• Human dignity over corporate profit
We choose a nation where the common good is not a slogan, but the organizing principle of public life.
And we refuse to apologize for demanding better.
A wonderful way to keep your promise. Well done.
Warning to users here: comments are now starting to be covered by data mining message, "...violated your country's Safety Act..." and wants verification of your age. The speech bubble at the bottom of the screen also says this now. When I clicked to verify my age, Substack also wanted photos of my face! This is the start of narrative control here. Time for another platform.
Thanks for the heads-up. I looked into this because it sounded alarming. What’s happening is actually tied to government regulations in a few specific countries (mainly the UK and Australia), not a new Substack policy to “control narratives.”
Substack published an explainer here:
Why Substack is asking to verify your age
Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, platforms are legally required to verify a user’s age before showing certain types of content. Substack’s 18+ policy is here:
Substack 18+ Content Policy
Substack has also publicly opposed these laws and explained the tension between free expression and compliance:
Our Position on the Online Safety Act
A few important clarifications:
• The messages you’re seeing aren’t global. Most U.S. readers never encounter them.
• The “verification” flow (including photos) comes from Persona, the identity vendor Substack uses to comply with those countries’ laws.
• It’s not about comments specifically — the law requires age-gating across any part of the platform that could contain restricted content.
• Substack isn’t mining data for its own use; it’s responding to external legal requirements.
Totally understand why it felt concerning but the root issue is government regulation, not Substack secretly trying to clamp down on speech.
Hope this helps clear it up.
It does, if you take things at face value. Hope what you say is true. In any case, I'm not willing to give biometrics and other personal information. I feel, because of this, you maybe losing viewers unless you also start posting on another platform. YouTube is threatening independent journalists there, which is why many also post here.