My son pleasured himself on Gemini Live. Entire family's Google accounts banned

Story and immediate reactions

• Reddit post claims a teen used Gemini Live for sexual acts, triggering a CSAM flag and cascading bans across the family’s Google accounts (email, Drive, Photos, etc.).
• Many describe this as a nightmare scenario, especially when shared devices and family groups are involved.
• Some highlight the emotional impact on the kids (e.g., thesis lost, long‑term phone number gone) and how “protect the children” logic can produce severe collateral damage.

Skepticism about the Reddit story

• Several think the Reddit post is likely fiction or “creative writing,” citing:
  • Self‑contradictory details (e.g., all email accounts banned, yet an explanatory email somehow received; later claim of having to create a new ProtonMail).
  • Overly dramatic embellishments (perfect storm of dissertation, special bank, no backups).
  • Focus on email access rather than the legal consequences of a CSAM flag.
• Others argue that whether or not this specific post is real, the scenario is plausible and consistent with known platform behaviors.

Risks of lock‑in and multi‑service bans

• Strong concern about dependence on a single vendor for email, storage, phone number, 2FA, business data, etc.
• Commenters share prior experiences of opaque bans by Google and other big platforms, often with no human recourse.
• Some note Google correlates accounts via devices, recovery emails, and other signals, making “clean separation” difficult for normal users.

CSAM enforcement and “guilt by association”

• Discussion that providers may over‑ban to minimize legal risk, potentially banning:
  • All accounts on a family device.
  • Accounts linked as recovery emails or within a “family” group.
• Several point out that CSAM flags typically get escalated beyond internal policy land, raising serious (but largely unaddressed) legal stakes.

Backups, alternatives, and mitigation

• Repeated advice: don’t keep irreplaceable data in one cloud; maintain local backups, especially of email and documents.
• Google Takeout is mentioned; some say it’s easy, others report repeated failures, especially for very large data sets.
• Suggestions include:
  • Own domain for email.
  • Independent email providers (e.g., Fastmail, Zoho) and offline TOTP for 2FA.
  • Avoiding Google Family Link / shared accounts, or using “burner” accounts for device management.

Regulation, gatekeepers, and support

• Many argue large platforms function as critical infrastructure or “gatekeepers” and should:
  • Offer real human support and dispute resolution.
  • Be subject to strong regulation, possibly breakup.
• Others warn this is a general “cloud” problem, not just Google: anyone holding your identity and data with no recourse is dangerous.

Meta: HN vs Reddit content

• Some complain about HN increasingly amplifying unverified Reddit stories and drifting toward Reddit‑style drama, especially when original posts are later removed.