Imagine waking up one day to find that something completely normal today—like gas-powered cars or certain social media features—is suddenly illegal.
Many people assume that laws only change gradually or in ways that don’t affect daily life, but history shows that everyday items and habits can disappear faster than we expect.
To help you stay ahead, we’ve gathered the most talked-about predictions on what could be banned in the next 20 years, so you can prepare before it’s too late.
1. Telemarketing
Colin replied, “Telemarketing.” Short but crystal clear.
He elaborated on it by saying, “Make robo-dialing illegal, and require that insurance companies, banks, etc. give people an option to talk to a human in the initial menu. Lots of people would prefer that.”
2. Multi-Level Marketing
Miss Galifrey wrote multi-level marketing. Someone noted that some charities are sadly also MLMs.
He says Autism Speaks is a huge example that makes his blood boil. He’s someone with autism himself, and he finds it revolting. It started to help their son but became money-hungry, and the founder’s views destroyed that even more.
3. Microtransactions
One user mentioned that if a game can be sold to children, it should not have microtransactions. This is because children can’t control themselves, and it’s not very great for their parents to find out their kid has been playing a game because of a large bill.
Many people in the thread joked about being tired of “11-year-olds kicking their behinds in Warzone.”
4. Beauty contest
Suven said, “Beauty contests featuring underage contestants.”
Several users agreed on this, and one added, “Let’s all gather to look at the body of children and decide who’s the most beautiful. Who thought that was a good idea?”
5. Data Privacy
This user wrote “data privacy violations.” Jean commented it depends on where you live. In Europe, GDPR is pretty awesome in this regard.
Jim didn’t agree with this and explained that now, you have to “opt-in” to tracking and data harvesting, so companies have started making insanely complex models with massive “accept all” buttons on them. He adds that “gathering data outside access logs shouldn’t be legal without informed consent. If that destroys a given business, even better. If you can’t exist without privacy violations, you shouldn’t exist.”
6. Single-Use Plastic
Candor added the comment “single-use plastic.” This was supported by one user who added that store refilling stations must be mandatory.
They went on, “Imagine this: you need milk, so you take your milk jug to the store and fill it using a filling station, then check out and take it home. Need soap? Take your jug to be filled. Wanna buy 5lbs of rice? Fill and weigh a bag. Most packaging is just to get the object from the store to our homes.”
7. Subscription Services
Someone mentioned they find it absurd that a subscription service is necessary to use the key fob for your car, despite it being a feature of the product.
Another person who works at a car dealership added that he was chatting with a customer who bought a new car for his daughter. He mentioned that his customer wished it came with a remote start. He thanked him after he told him it’s better to get it aftermarket because the manufacturer charges a yearly fee after 6 months.
8. Skipping ads
According to one user, skipping ads on YouTube is legal but should be banned.
Another individual stated, “Skipping ads is the only thing companies want to be illegal because it will work in their favor, so it’s the one I expect to actually happen.”
9. Fireworks
In Europe, Tygo expressed that he wants fireworks to be banned. “People here toss it to bystanders, so it’s not really safe, to be honest.”
It is already illegal to use or buy/sell fireworks without prior approval in Germany, a commenter named Nato shared, except for a period of a few days around New Year’s.
10. Selling Cigarettes
Somebody mentioned that New Zealand has made it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 2008, even once they’re adults. The users in the thread feel like a lot of places will start doing that.
“Prohibition? Historically, it worked wonders.” One acknowledged, and they hope many other countries will follow New Zealand’s example.
11. Online Tracking
The next comment about legal things expected to be banned in the next twenty years was about online tracking. Oli voiced that he doesn’t understand why it isn’t illegal already. “If I follow someone in real life and write down everything they do, I will get arrested, but Google can do exactly this with no problems?”
Alex noted that Google could do it because you are using their services. Another shared that you must agree with terms and conditions when using social media, for example, so it’s also on what you choose.
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Source: Reddit
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