So, to post something in 2027: - You have to have an approved browser. - It has to be installed on an approved platform, Google or Apple, for which you have a valid account. - You have to have an account on the posting platform. - You have to get past moderation on the posting platform. That's without age verification.
Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
181–190 of 561 posts
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#182So, to post something in 2027: - You have to have an approved browser. - It has to be installed on an approved platform, Google or Apple, for which you have a valid account. - You have to have an account on the posting platform. - You have to get past moderation on the posting platform. That's without age verification.
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#183One very simple way to give parents control over what their children see and participate in without violating everyone else’s privacy is to create adult and social TLDs and require these sites to migrate to them. So instagram.com becomes instagram.social, etc. Then mandate that all consumer network equipment mfrs and internet providers provide easily accessible ways to block these TLDs. Maybe combine that with some p…
Is it better to have TikTok AND friends, or no TikTok and no friends? Sure, the best is no TikTok and still have friends, but you can't always have it all.
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#184One very simple way to give parents control over what their children see and participate in without violating everyone else’s privacy is to create adult and social TLDs and require these sites to migrate to them. So instagram.com becomes instagram.social, etc. Then mandate that all consumer network equipment mfrs and internet providers provide easily accessible ways to block these TLDs. Maybe combine that with some p…
I don't get why a problem specific of parenthood should apply to everyone else. Don't give your kid a smartphone then.
One problem (there are others) is that it's not always possible (or easy) to not give your kid a smartphone, or access to social media.
Imagine that your kid doesn't have those and is having a hard time at school because all the other kids do have them. They have a whole culture based around those, and your kid is excluded from it. What do you do? Tell your kid that it's okay to wait 10 more years before hoping to not be excluded?
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#185Age verification is fine , at least in theory. It’s the implementations that are bad. More and more people agree that kids shouldn’t be on modern social media, including me. But most people also agree that mass surveillance is dangerous. The solution is to propose ways to block kids from modern social media (that actually works) without mass surveillance. Better parental controls, more parental education, and site-sp…
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't get why a problem specific of parenthood should apply to everyone else. Don't give your kid a smartphone then.
This is such a naive take, I see it a lot. Have you considered they can: * Buy one themselves * Get / use a friend's * Use public internet access points * Need one for school * Use the smart fridge / tv / gaming console / anything with a browser * Access stuff in Minecraft, Roblox, etc You can only stop it by going offline and raising them in a cabin in the woods, which is a whole other thing. What you can do is give…
Best is to assume they have access to it one way or another if they seek it. The discussion should not be about banning vs allowing, it should be focused around how to deal with situations that arise regardless.
Education about the subject and why kids shouldn't seek access is quite effective, additionally they will be informed once they are allowed access. Think about how the last decades saw a sharp decline in smoking and alcohol consumption.
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#187Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#188It would be an excellent case for zero-knowledge cryptography: All that you need to know is that I am above 18 years of age. You don't need to know how old I am, what my birthday is, what state I was born in, my gender, or when my passport expires. The downside with ZK cryptography is the complexity. Something would have to be insanely inconvenient to justify it.
> It would be an excellent case for zero-knowledge cryptography: The last ~third of the article is about the EU's zero-knowledge approach
I’m just afraid that membership countries will be too dumb to understand the difference, and for the population worldwide to be able to comprehend that it’s even possible. To be honest, ZK crypto is one hell of a party trick. Compared to tech where the premise is “we put a picture of your passport in a box, and when people want to know, we look and confirm.”
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#189It doesn't really help their case to parrot Musk-level misinformation...
https://www.pragencyone.co.uk/blog/elon-musk-misinformation-...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wales-englan...
Re: Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
A full answer is somewhat dependent on specific implementation details, but the simplest approach is much like the simplest way to acquire alcohol or other age-restricted product as a child: Ask someone else to act as an intermediary. Get another computer that identifies as an adult, and that isn't concerned about your age, to send the data to you. And maybe that's a healthy way to think about it. That it doesn't mat…
Yeah there’s no getting around that kind of thing. My parents would unplug the router at night and take the power cable so i found another device in the house with the same cable and plugged it in. But my sister never did that so at least it worked for half of us. I’m all for sane best efforts for restricting children’s access to mind warping materials online if the consequences on the overall internet are minimal wh…
Is it? Only around 10% of the population will develop an addiction (of any kind). About the same rate as the population who live chronic sedentary lifestyles, which comes with equally (or maybe even worse) health and social consequences. Where is the regulation that forces you to prove you are of a certain age to sit on the couch?
This seems like a lot of effort for something that impacts such a relatively small group of people — a group of people (in size) that we otherwise don't normally care about one bit. 10% of the population is marginalized time and time again. What's special about this particular case?