The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
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Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#2[flagged]
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#3> Again, every detailed study on the subject has found that the number of teenagers who have negative experiences on social media is tiny.
The study they linked is just self reported data from an internet survey. I'm sure that 13 year olds who don't get enough sleep because they're endlessly scrolling through ads, influencers, and disinformation don't see any problem with it the same way that a survey of alcoholics will show that beer is great, alcohol improves their lives, and that of course they can quit any time they want.
I'm not even suggesting that this ban will be effective or helpful, or that such bans are a good thing, but we know that these platforms are used to prey on their users, that "negative experiences" can be found easily, and that there's actual evidence of actual harms caused or facilitated by social media (including corpses). It should take a lot more than the opinions of just over a thousand children to discredit all of that and cause us to assume there's no problems with these platforms, how they're being used, or the effects they have on children.
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#4[flagged]
Is that how it should work? The worst of us can’t be trusted to to behave appropriately in one area of life, therefore everyone must be banned from it?
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#5The UK government's turn towards authoritarianism on these sorts of things is extremely worrisome! Invest in a VPN to keep yourself safe.
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#6[flagged]
Is that how it should work? The worst of us can’t be trusted to to behave appropriately in one area of life, therefore everyone must be banned from it?
Bucketing everybody who can't efficiently regulate children's access to the internet as "the worst of us" is unrealistic, and hideous. It's disgusting (or, charitably, inexperienced) of you to use these words.
As I age, I understand more and more the non-realism of the argument "monitor your kids" in relation to the internet specifically. Everything else? Sure. The internet? That's like restricting a kid's access to the planet. The notion is out of touch and elitist.
I don't think these regulations are necessarily correct in their specifics, but they are absolutely a shadow of something necessary to protect our species. It's time we stop being be so glib about such a hugely important topic and recognize its actual complexity.
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#7[flagged]
Is that how it should work? The worst of us can’t be trusted to to behave appropriately in one area of life, therefore everyone must be banned from it?
Yes, if US tech companies exploitative behaviour is a net negative for children in our society then banning it doesn't seem unreasonable.
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#8Isn’t it normally the case when politicians in any part of the world say they need to do something for the children, it’s just theatre to cover up them doing nothing or to hide legislation with a different purpose?
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#9My 15-year old niece who recently visited her cousins in Australia assured me that the recently enacted Aussie law did not affect her ability to access socials while in Australia, nor has it affected her U16 cousins, who still have their accounts. Apparently the age checking there only applies to newly created accounts.
Re: The UK's Teen Social Media Ban Is Political Theater, Not Child Safety Policy
#10Fear not, Roblox will not be subject to the policy for the older games within Roblox and as such young children allegedly may be able to get the latest news from their possibly maybe perhaps adult groomers. The newer games within Roblox are purportedly going through a 16+ check. [1]