this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
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Technically it seems to be correct, which is the best kind of correct. But it's certainly an unusual construction. I would say "Americans are subject to laws". I wouldn't say "40% of Americans subject to laws" to mean "40% of Americans are affected by laws". Generally you'd need an indirect object, "40% of Americans subject themselves to laws" though that ascribes intent that may or may not exist.
Careful. “Forty percent of Americans are subject to” is different from “40% of Americans subject to.” The former means that 40% of Americans are under the jurisdiction of or are affected by something. The latter means that 40% of Americans go along with it regardless of how many are affected in total. Entire states are subject to age verification laws, but perhaps only half of all adults in those states subject to those laws (allow the law to take force over them), implying that the remaining balance either abstain from activity requiring age verification or they find a way around it.
Most interestingly, the original Techdirt article meant the former—that a simple 40% of the total population of Americans live within states that have age verification laws, meaning that the linked article actually misrepresents what was being said, because the citing article’s language would indicate the second form of the usage of “subject” above. That is, that 40% of all people allow age verification laws to be activated and take force over them by virtue of their participation in activities that require age verification.
Edit: We agree that it’s not ideally worded in the linked article, regardless of the intended usage of “subject to.”
True, and I think the first sense was the one they were intending. This doesn't seem like a news outlet that would encourage civil disobedience.