I don’t think this is entirely accurate. I understand what you’re saying, that a determined person can relatively easily bypass this hurdle and view the content.

Still, I can see value in creating a hurdle. It’s not unsurpassable, but it requires energy to pass it. And sometimes that’s enough to not be the low hanging fruit. Maybe the poster wants to avoid trolls, or they don’t want that particular content to be easily scraped.

I liked how pez tasted back in the day at least

I have a friend who works for an independently wealthy minor noble. The guy is getting his masters as an adult and has four people “helping” him. My friend had to fly to another city because the noble’s son was moving there, and they needed my friend to set up the cable and assemble furniture before the son got there.