Live data from Hacker News

Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

bbc.com

41–50 of 719 posts

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#41
post #38

This is a strange way to legislate behavior. The fact that they're selectively cutting access to a population during a time period rather than limiting the overall negative reprocutions is a weird thing. This is not the internet I want to participate in. It's freaking scary that the government is associating your ability to freely access information based on your class and standing. Why we have weak journalists and a…

We as a society have decided you need an ID for alcohol, and ID for marijuana in the states where it is legal, and so forth. We know that social media can be just as habit-forming, addictive, and dangerous to mental health; especially among teenagers.

I see no reason why society should not extend ID requirements to certain times of night.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#42
post #27
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call their bluff - don’t make your service available in Utah.

Software Developer is the most common job in Utah, it's kind of surprising this happened despite that.

It's not surprising at all for Utah. That is a highly Mormon run state that has strong stances on how you should live your life. Even if you are a "goi" (I use the word loosely to illustrate the cultural metaphor in a us v them mentality) to them.

What is amazing is that they have this strong stance on how to restrictively govern the people inside their borders, but yet expect to have a western lifestyle support them. More organizations should stand up and say "I'll pass" in a blanket ban on them.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#43
post #16

Whether this is a reasonable law or not, my big problem with it is that it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents. There is no way for any company to check for something like this without also affecting every other user of the site, whether they are in Utah or not and whether they are a teen or not. What do they do exactly, start collecting government IDs from us before every v…

> it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents

What else do you expect? When tech companies make phones secure enough for the NSA, every app has passwords, and most apps have disappearing messages, how exactly do you expect parents to monitor what their kids are doing?

All the "parental monitoring" apps do is check how much time kids are using the phone. They give zero info on what the kids are actually doing.

So tell me, you want to put the onus on the parents? OK, then require any app used by kids to make all messages available to parents, and forbid disappearing messages.

You don't want to do that? Well, then don't say: "parents you watch them".

You can't simultaneously make something someone else's responsibility, and also make it impossible for them to do it.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#44
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly this seems like the best idea. You can’t get accused of letting a kid access outside approved hours if you don’t allow people in Utah on. What about adults? They may be lying kids. So either no access (safer) or strict age checks involving checking licenses and stuff. But that’s expensive. No Utah is easier. How do you know they’re in Utah? IP addresses. Blocks people outside Utah? Sorry, our lawyers made us…

I’m sure you’re writing all of this in a “yeah, that’ll teach em” voice, but this all sounds amazing. Please, let social media block everyone, become irrelevant, then bring back the old internet.

I expect if it were to happen there would be a very large outcry (in Utah at a minimum) and the law would be changed/repealed quickly.

It would be a VERY interesting natural experiment if it stayed in effect. People would find ways back on, but not everyone would be willing to go through the hoops. What would that do in even a month or two?

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#45
post #18
post #16

Whether this is a reasonable law or not, my big problem with it is that it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents. There is no way for any company to check for something like this without also affecting every other user of the site, whether they are in Utah or not and whether they are a teen or not. What do they do exactly, start collecting government IDs from us before every v…

Call their bluff - don’t make your service available in Utah.

[dead]

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#46
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has, "If you write in your FB status that FB doesn't have permission to use your pictures as outlined in their ToS (which you already accepted) then they have to comply with your request," vibes.

There was a time when what Barlow wrote spoke to a lot of hackers out in the world. Maybe that's not how the world is today, sadly.

Gonna be honest, it’s kind of cringey. I don’t think the sentiment is disagreed with here, but the fact that it sounds like an overzealous dungeon master.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#47
post #38

This is a strange way to legislate behavior. The fact that they're selectively cutting access to a population during a time period rather than limiting the overall negative reprocutions is a weird thing. This is not the internet I want to participate in. It's freaking scary that the government is associating your ability to freely access information based on your class and standing. Why we have weak journalists and a…

We as a society have decided you need an ID for alcohol, and ID for marijuana in the states where it is legal, and so forth. We know that social media can be just as habit-forming, addictive, and dangerous to mental health; especially among teenagers. I see no reason why society should not extend ID requirements to certain times of night.

An important difference being the ID’s purpose being just to prove your age during for that transaction, not provide a mechanism to create a permanent record of your behavior.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#49
post #18
post #16

Whether this is a reasonable law or not, my big problem with it is that it puts the burden of enforcement on tech platforms rather than the kids' parents. There is no way for any company to check for something like this without also affecting every other user of the site, whether they are in Utah or not and whether they are a teen or not. What do they do exactly, start collecting government IDs from us before every v…

Call their bluff - don’t make your service available in Utah.

That would be nice wouldn't it - mental health would improve so much.

Re: Utah is first US state to limit teen social media access

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We as a society have decided you need an ID for alcohol, and ID for marijuana in the states where it is legal, and so forth. We know that social media can be just as habit-forming, addictive, and dangerous to mental health; especially among teenagers. I see no reason why society should not extend ID requirements to certain times of night.

An important difference being the ID’s purpose being just to prove your age during for that transaction, not provide a mechanism to create a permanent record of your behavior.

Well, what is your plan? We can’t pretend that letting teen suicide jump 29%, and having 1 in 5 teens now having severe depression, is an issue that parents should be solely responsible for solving. And we shouldn’t pretend yet another social program could be as effective as slowing down the source.
Post reply on HN