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Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

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Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#21

Post by idontwantthis »

akerl_ wrote: post #2

This makes me think of how, as a child, every site asked “are you over 13”, and I diligently clicked “yes”. Some more clever sites asked for my birth year… forcing me to do the arduous work of taking the current year and subtracting 14. Though I suppose the real plan here is to pass the law and then have the government selectively prosecute social media companies for having users under 16.

I think it’s better to give the media companies a requirement and let them figure it out rather than government mandate how they do it.

Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#22

Post by erellsworth »

goda90 wrote: post #13
pfdietz wrote: post #7

I can't see how this could pass 1st amendment scrutiny.

How would it be different than age restricting voting, driving, or alcohol and tobacco sales? It seems there's precedent for treating minors differently than adults in many ways.

I think the difference would be in enforcement and what that would imply. How do you verify someone's age online without exposing that person to unwarranted tracking? Do we want to just say social media anonymity is dead?

Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#23

Post by bhpm »

nickjj wrote: post #18
goda90 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would it be different than age restricting voting, driving, or alcohol and tobacco sales? It seems there's precedent for treating minors differently than adults in many ways.

> age restricting voting, driving, or alcohol and tobacco sales I think those things are a bit more black and white. How do you define social media? Is HN social media? You engage with others through comments, posts are ranked and it has voting elements as well as your profile has a gamified score for upvotes. Is a Disqus comment on any website social media if that's how we broadly define social media? Where do we dr…

The social media platforms the bill would target include any site that tracks user activity, allows children to upload content or uses addictive features designed to cause compulsive use.

Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#25

Post by Goronmon »

goda90 wrote: post #9

I'm still on the fence about government doing a parent's job here, especially for kids under 13, but I can't stand that no one pushing these bills has come up with an actually reasonable age verification method.

I'm still on the fence about government doing a parent's job here, especially for kids under 13, but I can't stand that no one pushing these bills has come up with an actually reasonable age verification method.

How do you anonymously verify someone's age?

Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#27

Post by zo1 »

goda90 wrote: post #9

I'm still on the fence about government doing a parent's job here, especially for kids under 13, but I can't stand that no one pushing these bills has come up with an actually reasonable age verification method.

While people are on the fence about it, our children are having their youth, innocence and brains destroyed by tiktok et al. Those platforms are cancer to adults even, let alone impressionable kids... yet here we are still debating it and faffing around about "1st amendment yaddi yadda".

Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#29

Post by mccrory »

bhpm wrote: post #23
nickjj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> age restricting voting, driving, or alcohol and tobacco sales I think those things are a bit more black and white. How do you define social media? Is HN social media? You engage with others through comments, posts are ranked and it has voting elements as well as your profile has a gamified score for upvotes. Is a Disqus comment on any website social media if that's how we broadly define social media? Where do we dr…

The social media platforms the bill would target include any site that tracks user activity, allows children to upload content or uses addictive features designed to cause compulsive use.

Then they can say goodbye to most online gaming. I wonder how people will feel about this when they realize their kids can’t play games anymore?

Re: Florida House of Representatives approves bill to ban social media for kids < 16

#30

Post by M4v3R »

bedhead wrote: post #14

Not sure how I feel about this, but I don't hate it, theoretically. I'm sure it's hopeless in practice. It might be a worthwhile experiment if nothing else. But a piece of legislation will never be an adequate substitute for good parenting.

Definitely not as a substitute, but it might be something that helps push more parents to consider preventing their children from using social media. It’s much easier for a parent to explain to the child that the reason they’re not allowed to use it is because it’s illegal, instead of trying to explain how social media negatively affects their brains.
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