I think the problem with this sort of regulation is two fold. The first is that the cost of compliance is astronomical for small businesses and therefore it do

I think the problem with this sort of regulation is two fold. The first is that the cost of compliance is astronomical for small businesses and therefore it doesn't makes sense to supply your product/service to UK users if you don't really need them. The second issue is the issue of data privacy. I don't think it is stretching the truth to say that the age verification is the Trojan horse of the upcoming digital ID requirements. It is very clear that the UK/EU wants to move to a world were everything you do online is tied back to your digital ID somehow. The problem with that is that we do not know how long and where this data will be stored, nor who will have access to it and what will happen when it starts being used to prosecute people in the future. If the requirements were to simply prove you are above 18/21 and that was the end of it, then maybe it would be somewhat more palatable. But in reality, we know where this road leads. It is not inconceivable that in 10 years from now once the full digital ID requirements are in place that you, a random citizen will find yourself in hot water because you accessed some part of Reddit and left a comment on a post where someone was advocating to go protest on the streets without the required permits to do so. Make no mistake, this is where this leads. Full on surveillance state. And they say China is bad? Seems to me that China has become and example to follow instead of cautionary tale.