Comment by arturx

Something I have seen a lot of confusion here in HN, and I think in this context it's important, is that something to be legal is not the same as to be legitimate.

Legality is what is permitted or prohibited by the law. In contrast, legitimacy is based on a moral principle. And thus, it is not universal and depends on the culture and tradition of a specific region.

When concerning law, in my opinion, one does not need to ask, is it legal? Which now clearly, in California, will be legal to impose restrictions on the OS level to access content on the internet. At start it is about age. But this builds a base which can be extended on.

One needs to ask, is it legitimate? Is it legitimate to impose restrictions on computer and internet usage based on who you are?

Another question to be asked is if in democracy all laws are legitimate, as they emanate from the congress which belongs to the nation. It's clear that in non-democratic regimes legality will never be equal to legitimacy.