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Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

bbc.com

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Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#101

Post by ShamelessC »

paxys wrote: post #16

Whether this is a reasonable law or not, my big problem with it is that it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents. There is no way for any company to check for something like this without also affecting every other user of the site, whether they are in Utah or not and whether they are a teen or not. What do they do exactly, start collecting government IDs from us before every v…

That is precisely the solution. Tech platforms are far more culpable than parents in this matter. If that means your startup idea no longer scales - good riddance.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#102

Post by judge2020 »

jjcm wrote: post #90

Actual bill is here: https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0152.html For those wondering if it'll affect your site/service, this only applies to social media companies that have > 5m account holders.

5 million is not a lot, especially if you're just counting the number of users in your DB. Something like MAUs would be a better metric, but would still include things like Steam.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#103

Post by raincole »

holmesworcester wrote: post #95
throwayyy479087 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and a 13 year old should absolutely not use any of those services. Discord in particular has become known as “groomercord” for it’s open pedophilia.

I haven't read the bills yet but according to the article it applies to children under 18. 17-year-old me would have considered this draconian bullsh*t, for the same reasons I would now. (So does dad me, incidentally. My kid's messages have always been her business, not mine.)

I'm sure many of us wouldn't have been a programmer if we hadn't had access to SO/Github around 17.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#104

Post by judge2020 »

ShamelessC wrote: post #101
paxys wrote: post #16

Whether this is a reasonable law or not, my big problem with it is that it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents. There is no way for any company to check for something like this without also affecting every other user of the site, whether they are in Utah or not and whether they are a teen or not. What do they do exactly, start collecting government IDs from us before every v…

That is precisely the solution. Tech platforms are far more culpable than parents in this matter. If that means your startup idea no longer scales - good riddance.

> If that means your startup idea no longer scales - good riddance.

And if that means no startup can possibly compete against the existing players in the industry that have the bandwidth and resources to implement the regulation?

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#105

Post by jay_kyburz »

raincole wrote: post #103
holmesworcester wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read the bills yet but according to the article it applies to children under 18. 17-year-old me would have considered this draconian bullsh*t, for the same reasons I would now. (So does dad me, incidentally. My kid's messages have always been her business, not mine.)

I'm sure many of us wouldn't have been a programmer if we hadn't had access to SO/Github around 17.

Now I feel old.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#106

Post by falcolas »

ask_b123 wrote: post #98
falcolas wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stack overflow and GitHub both allow you to make public posts and interact with others. The text targets public user posts and interactions between users explicitly. Whether the consequences are intentional or not is still to be determined.

but are they made available by a "social media company"? and should that be relevant?

Well, here’s their definition of such a company (from the same link):

155 (9) "Social media company" means a person or entity that: 156 (a) provides a social media platform that has at least 5,000,000 account holders 157 worldwide; and 158 (b) is an interactive computer service.

So, size is really the only relevant discriminator.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#107

Post by raincole »

t-writescode wrote: post #65
ajhurliman wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure you’re writing all of this in a “yeah, that’ll teach em” voice, but this all sounds amazing. Please, let social media block everyone, become irrelevant, then bring back the old internet.

While you may not like the current method of communication and congregation, you must understand _why_ we have the first amendment, right? Congregating together and discussing ideas of (nearly) any sort is an absolutely vital part of democracy and a free society

People (like the one above you) don't care about the first amendment as long as their favorite things aren't affected.

...and that's why the first amendment exists.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#108

Post by veec_cas_tant »

acover wrote: post #93
veec_cas_tant wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully this is hyperbole. Seems a bit extreme to hope the government legislates away industries because you don't want to handle the parenting yourself.

You have to show id to buy cigarettes. How hard is it to id people before account creation?

The quote was "Call their bluff - don’t make your service available in Utah.", it didn't mention ID.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#109

Post by prawn »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #32
paxys wrote: post #16

Whether this is a reasonable law or not, my big problem with it is that it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents. There is no way for any company to check for something like this without also affecting every other user of the site, whether they are in Utah or not and whether they are a teen or not. What do they do exactly, start collecting government IDs from us before every v…

I would say that anonymity on social media currently has a serious, real-world price to pay. Teen girls and Instagram don’t mix - the numbers reporting depression and suicidal thoughts since it took off is heartbreaking. They made us wear masks due to a threat to our physical health. Social media is currently having extremely acute effects on the mental health of a generation. It may have reached the point that losin…

Is anonymity the key issue for your example of Instagram and teen girls? I'd guess that a lot of the pressures come from their peers and professional users who are quite openly using their own identity.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#110

Post by mrcwinn »

The Democrats have their own flaws certainly, but I’m having such a hard time finding a consistent ideology among conservatives. Free speech absolutism, mixed with parent choice, no choice for women, censorship for some kinds of speech, anti-regulation limited government but strong regulation of tech products. I just can’t square any of this.
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