Hi, I am over 18 in Australia and Substack is blocking me from accessing anything due to the new internet laws, unless I verify my age with GovID or face scan which I’m not going to do.
Disclaimer (no need to read if you’re cool): My politics aren’t relevant but since it has to be said here apparently, no I’m not an “alt right person trying to bypass hate speech rules”. This is literally just to access information, not even to post anything. I also am not interested in why I shouldn’t care about giving my info over. Please let’s keep it on topic.
Every other service somehow used AI, fingerprinting, linked accounts, device info, location data, activity etc to determine my age. Not creepy at all. But at least I didn’t have to give over my ID or biometric data.
But Substack in all its wisdom has somehow determined that I’m under 18 and won’t let me in now, even with VPN set to other countries (idk how). What’s ironic is 1. Apparently Substack wasn’t even on the list of platforms subject to the laws, and some people (yes, many Australians, particularly on Reddit, have complained about the exact same situation, Substack being the only company to do this to them) suspect they are doing this as a form of malicious compliance (as a form of protest against the laws, which they know will lead to complaints that might contribute to the laws being overturned), since 2. Substack have been open about opposing this legislation. But that’s neither here nor there I guess, just maybe kind of relevant to figure out what’s going on.
Anyway, this isn’t a free speech thing, so you can set aside your pitchforks. I just want access to the news and blog posts I follow on Substack. Maybe there’s some way that doesn’t involve the app on my phone but I’d rather make it work in that way since that’s what I use the most, get notifications on and is most convenient for me
Thanks and sorry if My tone sounded aggressive or anticipating pushback, I am very used to it
Try just using archive.is.
Substack is a platform that promotes Nazis anyway, so denying them the legitimate clicks is worthwhile.
Did u know the captcha page of archive.is is doing a ddos on some random blog?
When I first read your comment I figured it was some weird bug in the site. But the truth is so, so much weirder.
Wow, I read through the HN comments on that and it is just wild. Allegedly posted by the archive.today owner themselves, outing the fact that they were doing a DDOS. Allegations that archive.today is run by Kremlin operatives, or by the FBI, or that all of this has come out as the result of some sort of a dead man switch for…some reason. And talking about past drama with Cloudflare. And the alleged doxing that initiated all of this…even though it’s nearly 3 years old now. And is the doxer actually there in the HN comments, or is that a troll impersonating them?
Anyway, it doesn’t seem to be doing it anymore.
I can’t tell other people how to behave but I would just walk away from any foreign service demanding proof of id. Wouldn’t even bother trying work arounds. That and other enshitifications have given me back so much of my time it has been brilliant. Getting through so many books and getting so many things done. I wish the world had turned to shit earlier. Now I need aussie.zone to sell out to US private investors and start running botted engagement, targetted ads and pushing AI anti-features.
There are a number of indicators for where someone is from that might be visible to site operators, far beyond a simple IP address. You could try an incognito window (because cookies), as well as changing your region settings.
Beyond that, try spinning up a VM (VMware has a free version, as do many others). Install a fresh OS on it, always pretending to be in whatever your destination country is. Install the (e.g) UK keyboard, select a UK timezone, etc. Install your VPN right away, before opening a browser.
Have you tried another device? Maybe a different account? Have you got a link to what you want?
If you’re really desperate, try using Tor. I’m not sure if Substack blocks Tor, but assuming it doesn’t, the Tor-browser’s anti-fingerprinting measures should be more than enough.
Edit: Just checked, Substack does not block Tor.
Well done substack. This doesn’t look like malicious compliance, it looks like an attempt to exploit the situation for data harvesting.
I don’t have a solution yet but just wanted to add I have the same issue. And I want to get in to cancel my account - that’s when I realised I had no access. I tried VPN, private browsing. I came to the conclusion that my account is tagged as AU and so it gets blocked as soon as I log in which I need to do to cancel.
I tried their help bot which said it couldn’t help with that. It sent me to their help page which had no option for the problem…I sent a request anyway under a vaguely related topic but I have heard nothing and don’t expect to.
Will try TOR too but not hopeful :-/
The thing that really shits me is that it kept emailing me from subscribed newsletters so this is very much not about protecting anyone from any content. No way I trust them enough to give them my image and scan of passport - jeeezus! For now I have just unsubscribed from emails as I get them.
If I do find a solution I will let you know.
Can you get them via rss?
Then at least you can avoid stepping foot in that Nazi bar.
VPNs, I pay for mine at this point but you can try a free one and see how it works.
They’re definitely worth the price and are one-click setups at this point.
access substack from outside “australia”, no govid.
VPN bypass isn’t working for me… I’ve tried it set in many countries , I use ExpressVPN and I pay for it
I’m not sure then, I just tried multiple countries through protonvpn and can access substack fine
Have you tried wiping your browser history or using a different/browser device as well as the VPN? If you’re logged into your account it’s probably already tied that to Australia
Either way though good to see not everyone is submitting to this age verify bullshit. I’ve managed to completely avoid it so far
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Tiktok, bro.
