I don't think it's unreasonable from a conceptual point of view to ban children from social media, but the issue is that the only way to actually implement the ban either involves very intrusive...
I don't think it's unreasonable from a conceptual point of view to ban children from social media, but the issue is that the only way to actually implement the ban either involves very intrusive data collection or being completely ineffectual.
As always I think this is an initiative with a vague layer of good faith but a load of bad incentive, all while ignoring the core problem of these platforms. It's not the act of being online...
As always I think this is an initiative with a vague layer of good faith but a load of bad incentive, all while ignoring the core problem of these platforms. It's not the act of being online talking so much as the proprietary algorithms designed to exploit human psychology and maximize engagement. Not to mention the unfettered data collection.
Any government not going after that and trying to just sweep everything under the rug is at best playing political theater and at worst trying to enable mass surveillance of its citizens.
They should instead identify functionality that is harmful and require platforms to remove it. People probably won’t try as hard to get around a block for algorithmic feeds and would just resign...
They should instead identify functionality that is harmful and require platforms to remove it. People probably won’t try as hard to get around a block for algorithmic feeds and would just resign themselves to a chronological version of X or whatever. Hell, some people would turn on their VPNs to point to the UK if they did this.
The most likely challenger to the current Prime Minister from within his own party, Andy Burnham, concurs (via X): Also, the teaching union NNASUWT is lobbying the government ban all young people...
The most likely challenger to the current Prime Minister from within his own party, Andy Burnham, concurs (via X):
I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Kemi Badenoch is saying about children and social media. It seems to me parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.
Also, the teaching union NNASUWT is lobbying the government ban all young people from social media platforms (via Telegraph).
I realise that views on social media for children are mixed on Tildes but I'd support a complete ban for under-16s too.
Honestly, a complete social media ban for anyone sub-99 seems reasonable to me. But when you move from broad goal to implementation, it all gets very messy. How do you know the age of the person...
Honestly, a complete social media ban for anyone sub-99 seems reasonable to me. But when you move from broad goal to implementation, it all gets very messy. How do you know the age of the person behind the device? What information do you need to gather to make that happen? How do you regulate new phones to ensure the age of their user is tracked? What about a VPN? What if a site in a foreign country doesn't track people the way you want them to? I'm not going to say that the goal isn't worthy, but I will say there'll be a lot of side-effects corrosive to any degree of personal anonymity on the internet.
I don't think it's unreasonable from a conceptual point of view to ban children from social media, but the issue is that the only way to actually implement the ban either involves very intrusive data collection or being completely ineffectual.
As always I think this is an initiative with a vague layer of good faith but a load of bad incentive, all while ignoring the core problem of these platforms. It's not the act of being online talking so much as the proprietary algorithms designed to exploit human psychology and maximize engagement. Not to mention the unfettered data collection.
Any government not going after that and trying to just sweep everything under the rug is at best playing political theater and at worst trying to enable mass surveillance of its citizens.
They should instead identify functionality that is harmful and require platforms to remove it. People probably won’t try as hard to get around a block for algorithmic feeds and would just resign themselves to a chronological version of X or whatever. Hell, some people would turn on their VPNs to point to the UK if they did this.
The most likely challenger to the current Prime Minister from within his own party, Andy Burnham, concurs (via X):
Also, the teaching union NNASUWT is lobbying the government ban all young people from social media platforms (via Telegraph).
I realise that views on social media for children are mixed on Tildes but I'd support a complete ban for under-16s too.
The biggest concern I have is how that would be implemented in concern to privacy of everyone.
Honestly, a complete social media ban for anyone sub-99 seems reasonable to me. But when you move from broad goal to implementation, it all gets very messy. How do you know the age of the person behind the device? What information do you need to gather to make that happen? How do you regulate new phones to ensure the age of their user is tracked? What about a VPN? What if a site in a foreign country doesn't track people the way you want them to? I'm not going to say that the goal isn't worthy, but I will say there'll be a lot of side-effects corrosive to any degree of personal anonymity on the internet.