What are your thoughts on Australia banning kids under 16 from social media?

[Arantor]

It’ll just make it more desirable to be on it. Peer pressure and the forbidden-ness of it will do wonders for quiet adoption.

Then we’ll see legislators do something dumb like mandate these services hook up to age-confirmation services, which just hands more data to people who shouldn’t have it.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I don't see how this can truly be enforced. There's probably going to be parents that allow their kids to join social media platforms whenever they're younger than 16 and just tick the box that they are 16 or older. I guess that's all the social media sites need to do, have something pop up if the person is visiting their site and trying to make an account under an Australia IP address.

 

[CTS]

Since when do underage kids get rights ?!

All I got growing up was privileges.
And if I screwed up .....

 

[Arantor]

Since when do underage kids get rights ?!

All I got growing up was privileges.
And if I screwed up .....

Since it became utterly normalised to give them a device in their pocket with the internet attached. Especially as we veer towards normalising internet access as a right rather than a privilege.

But given how often people try to bend the rules on, say, buying alcohol, what are the odds that this will succeed? Make it unreachable and they’ll just want it more. It’s actually better to not stigmatise it and allow controlled access earlier.

 

[CTS]

. It’s actually better to not stigmatise it and allow controlled access earlier.

And that's where parenting failures occur. It is never 'controlled'. Many parents don't have the technical wherewithal (or care to) to understand and protect children from the world. And then the governments try to create a safer environment for kids, and they get bashed for even thinking of that.