It just hurts me to see what the internet has become, simply because we allowed the general public.
Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
191–200 of 345 posts
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#192Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Forced voting is proof of it. Australia is by far the least free Anglo nation. I will never step foot on that god forsaken island. They have no culture, and that’s the opinion of Australians: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australian_Ugliness
Australia is one of the freest countries in the world: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freest-co... Higher than UK and the US.
In day to day life we are fairly free but for example we have much weaker freedom of speech/opinion than the USA. For example if you raise your arm at a particular angle you can now be sent to jail [1].
We also had some of the longest/harshet COVID lockdowns in the world in my state.
[1] - https://www.dw.com/en/australia-man-convicted-for-performing...
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
We’re a nanny state, the government is just going to use it to track us
Nanny state is a term coined by tobacco industry in their lobbying against tobacco laws. Is it really a term you want to use here? https://www.tobaccotactics.org/article/countering-industry-a...
> Nanny state is a term coined by tobacco industry in their lobbying against tobacco laws. Is it really a term you want to use here?
Sure, because most people h ave no idea where the term originates from and it now has a life of its own. It's the standard term for this sort of thing.
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
We’re a nanny state, the government is just going to use it to track us
Nanny state is a term coined by tobacco industry in their lobbying against tobacco laws. Is it really a term you want to use here? https://www.tobaccotactics.org/article/countering-industry-a...
Why not? It is about treating people as adults or children.
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s an interview on The Rest is Politics Leading podcast with the politician Peter Malinauskas the premier of New South Wales who started the introduction of this law in his state first. I think it was maybe then taken up by the federal government. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/leading/id1665265193?i... It’s very insightful and from listening to this it seems unlikely that murdoch was a huge influence on…
Just as a note. Peter is premier of South Australia. Same political party as national and NSW though
Apologies you’re right, I looked it up but my brain had obviously already decided it was NSW as that’s what I wrote. It’s a great interview, he seems like a good guy.
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#197If everybody in western societies agree that under-aged are forbidden to access a Casino or a brothel and also shouldn't do paid work; why should the same societies install easy doors for children to casinos, brothels and sweatshops, in every school, and children room?
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#198Rather than banning social media, we should be forcing social media companies to make their apps less addictive and promote more positive interactions. This only stigmatises social media more and gives them a ‘free pass’ to keep being a net negative contributor to society. It’s such a lazy legislation. Besides, what counts as social media? Texting? Gaming? The internet is inherently social.
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#199As an Australian parent this is really pleasing to see. It's clearly inspired heavily by the work of Jon Haidt and Jean Twenge et al. The kids are not okay and the main thing stopping a worried parent from addressing it is that "all the other kids are on it". If you have an addicted/bullied child would you make them a social pariah and create interminable arguments by taking away their devices? Collective action is n…
This perspective highlights a key aspect often overlooked in debates about such laws: the social dynamics of parenting. You’re absolutely right that the “all the other kids are on it” pressure can make it almost impossible for individual parents to set boundaries without isolating their child
But all the other kids will simply be on the next thing. They're on social media because that's accessible, but the assumption is the demand for such things will vanish because you banned them?
I'm (apparently) one of the few millenials who seems to actually remember and empathize with my teenage self, because the early forms of social media were something I really wanted. I posted on Usenet, used ICQ etc. None of these things were easily accessible, but they fulfilled a need.
The situation being addressed is basically "I am taking no steps to limit my child from access to something I already disapprove of" and I don't see how this would address anything. You got them off Snapchat or TikTok but why wouldn't word of mouth just find a new service to act as a virtual third space? Social media works just fine in a web browser.
Basically there's a strain of assumption which could be summarized as "children aren't smart enough to use Mastodon!" as though to do so is not just "visit this URL here's the QR code".
Re: Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
#200I don't like nanny state policies like this, but hopefully we'll get some data about social media usage from this after a few years. Prediction: the policy was both difficult to implement and difficult to determine if it made any impact, positive or negative.
This legislation has no teeth. There is nothing that forces social media companies to verify ID. In fact in the legislation social media companies can’t force users to provide ID.
It’s stupid legislation pandering to the lowest common denominator by a Labor government who have no vision and no idea how to deal with very real cost-of-living problems for Australians. The only problem is the LNP are even worse, an the Greens are nuts, so we’re stuck either anthem because they are the best of a terrible bunch.