Wow ... also in the post above I needed to place .... between the letters of the forbidden word to post or I could not have posted it.
I wanted to add the link to the official EU Parliament decision, but as also the link contains a forbidden word in the URL, I am not able to do so.
If you want to read more go to Press room | News | European Parliament
and search for 'Child (3letter word +ual) abuse online: voluntary detection measures will not be extended' of 2026-03-26
This will be the EU approach for online-age-verification and more:
The European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet is a government-backed mobile application designed to let citizens securely store and share identity data (like their name and birthdate) alongside official digital documents such as driving licenses and diplomas.
There is no single app for all of Europe. Instead, each Member State must provide at least one certified wallet to its citizens and residents by late 2026.
National Ownership: Countries may develop their own app, mandate a private provider, or certify existing national apps to meet EU standards. For instance, Italy is integrating it into its existing IO app, and Poland is upgrading mObywatel.
Full Interoperability: While the apps are national, they must follow a common technical architecture (the Architecture and Reference Framework) so they work seamlessly across borders. A user from Greece will be able to use their national wallet to rent a car in Spain or open a bank account in Germany
Irony, no?
Here we are talking about this topic and getting filtered. 
Yeah, funny. Soon we'll need age-verification to participate here.
Now, I do wonder which other words are on the blacklist of the forum-software-filter. I guess:
a) all word versions containing the letters e, x, & s. (ordered by alphabet)
b) names of illegal substances ... may I write weapons-of-mass-destruction ?
c) the correct spelling of the company-that-should-not-be-named in Redmond
d) the forbidden linux distros and the others
Well, Microsoft is not blacklisted.
Nor is Temple OS, SELKS or others.
I have full copies of all the included words in the filter and I have no objections over their presence there. They are extreme words that have no purpose in computing, a helpdesk or regular direct discussion.
The purpose the filters do serve is preventing the need for any age verification.
The filter prevents abuse - and was set up at a time when there was one or maybe two active moderators.
The filters primarily remind us to stop and think about what we are saying and if we can express ourselves better.
Yes, when topics shift into real GnuLinux issues; like discussing such laws that affect us - it can be annoying to smack into that word filter when your intentions are sound and are just discussing the facts.
One thing I had to learn the hard way growing up was how to apply a filter between my brain and my mouth.
Remembering those lessons; some of which left a few scars, makes the filter here less annoying.
It is reassuring to read your thoughts on this. One of the main reasons I am interesed in moving to zorin OS is to be free from digital control and the many traps that are drawing people into it like slow boiled frogs ... eg traps disguised as age verification safety things, etc with hidden agendas.
so, I hope it is the case, and that i'm understanding correctly, that Zorin OS aims to do whatever it can to keep choice alive and not force us down the slow boiled frogs path of no return or leave us stranded with no where to go as an alternative.
thank you for staying aware
Icve been mulling over Privacy aspect of GNU/Linux in general and to help keep users sanity I would remove all Web Apps such as Facebook or other social media apps (not the Gnome has ever supported Facebook, the one good thing I can say about Gnome) or others like LinkedIn, but just have web apps for functionality (cloud storage).
In terms of the ever inccreasing attacks on GNU/Linux users I contacted the local LUG crew where I live.
The co-ordinator advised me to do the following:
Ensure ufw (Gufw) is up and running
Install a VPN on desktop and smartphone. (I have free Proton VPN on phone and RiseUp! on the Desktop.)
Install fail2ban (Zorin users are 'lucky', you have systemd which this relies on.)
On smartphone install Malwarebytes. I have done this and impressed that it scans SMS for phishing and malware attacks. Just the free one. I can't upgrade as using an un-Googled phone.
The co-ordinator is lucky. He has ordered a Jolla phone (GNU/Linux) which runs SailfishOS. I could not warrant spending another £500 after purchasing this Fairphone 6 from murena. Sailfish is far from perfect for users that require VolTE, it does not support that and the only phone supported out of the box are Sony ones. Community images are also only available for Fairphone 4 and 5, not 6.
Hey-ho!
Great idea to get a lawyer OP. TBF though, groups like the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), NOYB (None of Your Business), the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the GNU project. All have deep legal expertise and financial pockets, and will be able to point you guys in the right direction.
Hopefully those exhorbitant lawyers fees can be better spent elsewhere. This trend is super-concerning internationally.
As for the posters concerned about Social Media. There's a privacy Android OS called Graphene OS. It blacklists most Social Media apps due to their built-in trackers. Once you switch your device, you won't miss TikTok or FB.
Tech sovereignity is tied deeply to Irish national security. The government have literally given up on the idea of national tech independence.
I raised a petition to stop the appointment of Niamh Sweeny as DPC. However, there are very few votes for the issue of data privacy on this island. We need to discuss how we can force the government's hand to take this issue seriously.
The only way to do this is to unite. Would anyone be interested in sharing ideas in a Signal group?
That's why your distro is the best. I been distro hopping for a little while, but i allways come back