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Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

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Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#251

It sounds extreme, but I support banning usage of anything that runs software for children under 13. Under 13, children are still developing their minds, it is important for their welfare that they learn how to function without technological dependencies. You know how in school they used to tell us we can't use calculators to solve math problems? Same thing. It can't be done by individual parents either, because then…

This is very extreme take. I learned to program at age 10. It is an amazing tool for mind development. Had to invent sine and cosine tables to make my computer games, before even encountering the concept at school.

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#253
>Denmark's government aims to alienate hundreds of thousands of citizens And people wonder why governments fail. Every time you carve out exceptions you are hollowing out the foundation of your government. Children of the elite' access to social media will remain of course, can't hollow out your true foundation

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's do away with the laws requiring shops to check ID before selling cigarettes. After all, a parent can simply tell their child not to smoke cigarettes and that's clearly good enough, right? All in the name of less government, which is clearly the most important priority here.

You make a persuasive case, but nicotine is genuinely addictive. Something to do with releasing stored glucose and substituting for food, and causing irritability on what I take to be a physiological level on withdrawal. Otherwise I'd agree.

But in this context, is it so important to distinguish between whether something is physiologically addictive vs. just seriously habit-forming? Except for substances where withdrawal is genuinely life-threatening, the practical difference seems to be in degree, not kind. Nicotine withdrawal causes irritability, but (I know having experienced both) so can breaking a bad social media habit.

(And it seems like there's a physiological basis to both cases, it's just that one involves endogenous chemicals and the other doesn't)

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#255

How will they achieve that without introducing a requirement to identify yourself on every online platform, which some would say is probably the whole reason for introducing something promoted as being "for the children"™.

In the US they'd just make the platforms massively liable and let them worry about how to enforce. No idea what they'll do in another country.

we get to see how it works in australia next month. there's already stories of kids putting on fake mustaches to fool age-of-face recognition, which is one of the methods used.

i think it'll get to: "these methods aren't good enough, we'll have to enforce digital id".

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#256
post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be pretty happy about social media being banned for everyone if not the immense possibilty for the government to abuse this law to disrupt undesired communication altogether.

This website is social media.

Technically true but I've found it to be less addictive than other text forums (like the R-site and Lemmy), let alone the algo-powered video-based abominations that normies are all hooked on.

I'm thinking that it comes down to one thing in particular: the absence of response notifications. There's only so much addiction you can get out of a page of text without so much as a bell icon.

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#257

Why don't governments start at the source instead of at the access? I always have questions that go a bit deeper but maybe because I think differently. I understand it can trample on rights, but I guess I like to still ask and have the thought experiment anyway. If things like this are so harmful, and it's recognized why is it okay for a parent to give their child access to it in the first place? Why do kids get to c…

Think of it similar to alcohol laws. E.g. in the US you don't just want kids to be unable to buy alcohol when their parent is present, you want the point of access to participate in that restriction or it won't work in practice because getting 100% of kids to have good judgement all of the time (or watching them constantly for their whole life) is not realistic. At the same time, many states still have laws allowing alcohol consumption by minors in the presence of their parent because it's really hard to get everyone to agree on a universal binary cutoff with no exception.

In practice, the law does help greatly in spite of not being a mathematical proof the minor will no longer get alcohol because of "parenting well" alone and almost all parents are fine with the restrictions, even in places without the flexibility, because they've come to see and agree with the level of harm over the years. Ie. there is a point enough parents agree strongly enough that the common good of children is accepted over the rights of a parent to decide their child's welfare - it's just usually a hogh bar (e.g. how far punishment can go before it turns into abuse, as another example).

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#258

Why was 15 chosen? I assume there's evidence that older children and adults are able to use social media responsibly and therefore not harmed?

Laws don't require foundation let alone scientific evidence. If either were the case laws would rarely be passed. For Denmark I'd assume it's just vibes among the law makers social class. They have a worldview and by God they will impose it.

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#259
post #252

Consuming is not the same as producing. They should only ban consuming. (impossible I know, but that hints to the real problem) Kids need to create.

my kid and me when I was a kid and my Mom and Dad when they were kids have been creators. you don’t need a fucking phone or “social” media to be a creator, what nonsense!

Re: Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15

#260
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a parent then act like one. You're perfectly able to enact that ban yourself - why do you need the governments help?

you can take a teen’s phone off them and they can just walk into a store and buy an inexpensive second hand handset and use the WiFi from a local cafe.

And if they do it with their own money, it's their phone.

Children prior to 18 are not subhuman. If you're old enough to buy your own phone, you're old enough to decide whether and how to use it.

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