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A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

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Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#31

Post by yaur »

michael9k wrote: post #26

Don't know how this could be implemented in a good way (so FB etc do not get access to important identity information), but trying to limit social media for kids below 13 is a fantastic idea. One could wish the adults/parents would limit this themselves, but sadly this is seldom the case. For some reason it seems most parents really are clueless to the level of harm imposed by social media to their kids?!

COPA already effectively does this, but kids just lie about their age. Making FB and company liable for those cases where parents decide to let their preteens go wild on social media seems insane.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#32

Post by zarzavat »

kaetemi wrote: post #28
crooked-v wrote: post #10

This seems like it would have been a great idea about thirty years ago, but would be functionally impossible to even try to enforce working from scratch today.

The trick used to be just requiring a valid credit card.

Many adults don’t have credit cards (like me). Many kids have do have physical access to their parent’s credit cards.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#33

Post by madaxe_again »

michael9k wrote: post #26

Don't know how this could be implemented in a good way (so FB etc do not get access to important identity information), but trying to limit social media for kids below 13 is a fantastic idea. One could wish the adults/parents would limit this themselves, but sadly this is seldom the case. For some reason it seems most parents really are clueless to the level of harm imposed by social media to their kids?!

I think it’s also that kids are far smarter than generally given credit for, and are perfectly capable of going behind their parents’ backs.

What is needed, and has been for some time, is an identity service.

This does exist in some parts of the world - here in Portugal, for instance, I access government services online with a smartcard, password and 2FA - and I don’t see why they couldn’t extend this as a general SSO service using oauth or whatever to provide accredited identities to providers who require it due to regulation. The provider doesn’t need to receive anything from the auth apart from a user id, or a “deny access”.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#34

Post by zo1 »

yaur wrote: post #31
michael9k wrote: post #26

Don't know how this could be implemented in a good way (so FB etc do not get access to important identity information), but trying to limit social media for kids below 13 is a fantastic idea. One could wish the adults/parents would limit this themselves, but sadly this is seldom the case. For some reason it seems most parents really are clueless to the level of harm imposed by social media to their kids?!

COPA already effectively does this, but kids just lie about their age. Making FB and company liable for those cases where parents decide to let their preteens go wild on social media seems insane.

So plan B would be to make the parents liable? Just have Facebook refer suspected cases for police to confirm.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#35

Post by Mindwipe »

zo1 wrote: post #34
yaur wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

COPA already effectively does this, but kids just lie about their age. Making FB and company liable for those cases where parents decide to let their preteens go wild on social media seems insane.

So plan B would be to make the parents liable? Just have Facebook refer suspected cases for police to confirm.

Unfortunately plan B is to ban anonymous access to websites.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#36

Post by Mindwipe »

MrPatan wrote: post #7
rhaway84773 wrote: post #5

Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to simply have parental education around the harms of social media for kids under age XYZ? I mean, I’m all in favor of the goals of this bill. I think social media is a horrible negative for people of all ages, but especially children since they largely don’t have the mental capability to defend against the smartest people in the world trying to hijack their brains. But I can’t see h…

How is parental education going for "don't do drugs" or "don't commit crimes"?

Better than banning them is.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#37

Post by crooked-v »

zo1 wrote: post #34
yaur wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

COPA already effectively does this, but kids just lie about their age. Making FB and company liable for those cases where parents decide to let their preteens go wild on social media seems insane.

So plan B would be to make the parents liable? Just have Facebook refer suspected cases for police to confirm.

That sounds like a great way to make the US' selective enforcement problems even more pernicious.

Child of a rabble-rouser? Arrest that man! Child of a respected judge? Clearly just an honest mistake.

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#38

Post by Scoundreller »

runnerup wrote: post #14
crooked-v wrote: post #10

This seems like it would have been a great idea about thirty years ago, but would be functionally impossible to even try to enforce working from scratch today.

Ah, yes, the famous social network platforms of 1993. More to the point, go on the internet and lie .

I didn't need to lie on newsgroups back then!

Re: A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 from Joining Social Media

#39

Post by htag »

This is movement is going to be widely regarded as on of the largest prohibitions in our era.

* Whatever verification system a user has to do to prove they are older than 13 will also being to freak users out about 'whoes listening'. It's insane to think a First Name, Last Name, and Address might be tied to _every reddit account_.

* That data will be used for government surveillance. Maybe I should start creating a hat out of metallic kitchen supplies, but I largely think 'how can we spy on more Americans" has been a central political battle fought over the last 3 decades. It's a long fight, not over.

* This could cause all users to stop adopting these public networks, and and move to underground networks. Some underground networks will just normal application with some social space that aren't targeted. Some might be based on traditional dark-web style services. Others might be based on something more web3-y.

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