Will they consult any of the under-16s they're targeting? Or just those who "know what's best"
Do we consult toddlers for their opinion about food?
UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
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Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#52> It would also look at whether more robust age checks could be implemented by social media firms, which could be forced to remove or limit features "which drive compulsive use of social media".
Why not some version of this from social media companies?
Revert the service back to the early days for under-16 (or whatever) accounts where they connect with friends and only see post from them in chronological order without all the other outside content injection. A very pared down limited feature version so the kids still have online interaction minus the content up for debate on its harmfulness. And if the companies did it on their own they could use that to look like they care; be the "good guys". The risk is everyone else wanting the same -- better, imo -- experience. In which they tell the adults to kick rocks and everyone gets on with life.
Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#53Zero science, zero research, just politicians restricting citizens rights.
Wrong. Meta has years of very well documented practices that are fundamentally detrimental to society when not clearly illegal. Explain why politicians, which have not acted enough to avoid that, now should not act to limit the issue. This line of thinking is detrimental and only defends the concentration of wealth that the online platform came to represent. You should be the one doing some more research, I reckon.
The practices may be well documented but the studies are... flimsy. Please send meta analysis for my consumption.
Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#54As a parent of early-teen children I don't want a ban, I want better tools to supervise and educate my kids about using SM safely.
- Searchable history of all content that has been viewed on the app
- Age-based content/functionality restrictions, with sensible defaults
- SM account DOB set from device DOB, with no override
- Parental controls implemented consistently across all apps
- Free comprehensive public education programme for parents about using SM safety
Some of this already exists, but not widely and is rarely done well.
Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#55I'm fairly agnostic to the headline question of whether social media should be banned for under 16s. The part that seems interesting to me is whether this will entail linking online activity to real world identity for the rest of us. It doesn't have to, but in practice I guess that's probably what'll happen. Unfortunately all the debate is "but freedom of speech" vs "but think of the kids" vs, and nobody will be lobbying for a better (or less worse) implementation.
Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#56Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#57What is it about this 16 y/o cutoff that seems to be the focus everywhere? Why not 18? It almost seems like this will make SM attractive by making it a kind of forbidden fruit and/or a social standing status indicator for impressionable, malleable minded, underdeveloped minds of teens seeking to feel like adults. In other words, if I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed that it might actually be the likes of…
In the UK, 16 is the age of consent for medical treatments, driving licenses, joining the armed forces, etc, so it's generally the age when a child can lawfully make many of their own decisions.
You need to be 15 years and 9 months to apply for a provisional driving licence, but 17 to drive a car, in most cases, though I think there's an exception for some disabled people. You need to be 13 to give consent for processing of personal data. The age of criminal responsibility is 10 in England and Wales, but higher in Scotland, I think. It used to be 16 for getting married, with parents' consent (or without, in Scotland), but I think that's been raised. You can leave school on the last Friday of June in the school year (Sep-Aug) in which you turn 16, or something like that. There are lots of different age limits. I think the real answer to "Why 16?" is basically "Why not?".
Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#58Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or they could consciously choose to not bypass the restrictions and to not consume pornography. If they are seeking out vile material like incest, animal rape and sexualised murder then the blame lays entirely on them, not the government. I mean what is even your point? Male depravity is unavoidable, and men are mindless ejaculators with no free will to curb abnormal sexual behaviours?
They aren't, they're choosing bouncing boobs. The only sites left to them are the ones that were already illegal. Or a VPN service, which means the UK has no voice in the mainstream sites. You turn people off the professional sites which can be held accountable and they end up on the dark side of the internet. America saw the same thing when the puritans banned alcohol last century, people ran right into the arms of…
Like I said, these men could choose to not consume pornography at all. The responsibility for what they decide to access online lies with them.
No-one is forcing them to buy a VPN and visit pornography websites.
Re: UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s
#60recent petition, only takes a few secs:
Ban social media for under-16s to protect children https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/710283