AIBU to think banning social media for under-16s is a good idea?

You already have digital ID if you drive or holiday abroad via photo driving licences and passports.

If you're a company director, then you now have to have digital ID proof, with your identification validated against your passport and/or driving licence.

If you've recently bought a house, rented a house, appointed a solicitor or accountant, opened a bank account, your ID will have needed to be checked, almost certainly via a digital ID checking service.

Oh ok that's new, must be due to all the backlash they're getting. Ok so they need to also ban whatsapp, Internet tv, crunchyroll, Google and bacon. OR they can put pdfs and rapists in jail, which they are not doing. They let them out to put whatever disgusting material online they want.

BlueSky is included, that’s already been announced.

Nobody is really anonymous on SM now, there’s plenty of ways you can be traced if they really need to, the concept that is entirely anonymous is very naive.

If you’re using a platform to earn a living you’ll already have shared banking and personal ID details with that company, they have to verify who they’re paying.

And if it’s your sole income you’ll also be submitting a tax return as a sole trader, so HMRC will know that’s who’s paying you, I don’t see what difference this makes?

BlueSky is included, that’s already been announced.

Nobody is really anonymous on SM now, there’s plenty of ways you can be traced if they really need to, the concept that is entirely anonymous is very naive.

If you’re using a platform to earn a living you’ll already have shared banking and personal ID details with that company, they have to verify who they’re paying.

And if it’s your sole income you’ll also be submitting a tax return as a sole trader, so HMRC will know that’s who’s paying you, I don’t see what difference this makes?

I think adults do have a right to free speech though. We've seen how mainstream media often do not report accurately. SM bridges this gap. If we start putting ID for adults, we're reducing certain cohorts of adults who are worried about anonymity (eg for their own safety). People will start self-censoring political opinions because they're worried the state will be watching. This is a slippery slope. The Internet is an adult space. Parents should supervise and teach their kids, simple as that. Just like they would when walking down a road.

That Labour left out banning Bluesky (lots of inappropriate/pdf material there) should tell you something.

For many people social media is an essential part of earning a living.

You make it sound like social media is the be all and and end all of life for everyone 😂

That’s my point, it’s not compulsory and hopefully doing this will make kids realise this and move away from this incessant obsession with over sharing every last detail of our lives online which so many adults currently have.

You make it sound like social media is the be all and and end all of life for everyone 😂

That’s my point, it’s not compulsory and hopefully doing this will make kids realise this and move away from this incessant obsession with over sharing every last detail of our lives online which so many adults currently have.

You are missing the point.

None of those restrictions make it necessary for UK adults to subsribe to digital ID and to share this ID with any social media platform they want to access.

The reason for the backlash is because this is about Digital ID through the back door using child 'mental health' as an excuse to push it through.

Lock up your daughters!!

So instead of actually prosecuting pdfs, we're restricting kids and making ALL adults give up sensitive information to who knows where.

Thank you. Here we have it clearly laid out.

If anyone wants to use social media, they should be prepared to hand over ID to tech companies and/or the government in order to do so.

Every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration.

Social media usage isn’t compulsory, nobody is going to be forced to hand over any details to anyone.

Maybe it’ll be good for adults as well to make them really think not only about whether they want to share personal info to access it but the level of personal information they’ve already shared online without thought of who can access it and what they do with it.

I couldn’t agree more. Seeing children waiting for their school bus all on their phones, ignoring each other, walking along the pavement not taking their eyes off their phone, is utterly depressing.
Friends who are teachers are battling with children who can’t concentrate on their work because their used to mindlessly scrolling, mothers pushing buggies focusing on their phone in their hand…..
There’s a generation of children who can’t amuse themselves unless they’re on screens.
The arguments on here that pp are fully capable of monitoring what their children watch? Well, bully for you. You’re probably the exception.
It’s going to be interesting to see how kids manage without social media.

I agree with the ban. I well remember the constant arguments with ds because all of his friends were allowed various platforms from a young age, but we insisted on sticking to the age restrictions. It was literally every night and we had "i don't care what your friends' parents do, our priority is you" on repeat for months on end. Even now, I have so many conversations with him about how just because he's seen something on TikTok it doesn't make it factual.

Dd watches YouTube (lots of research and 'how to' craft videos - she's very much a visual learner) which I gather she'll still be able to do, she just can't have an account. She creates content (craft videos, no face/ body shots), but she does this on my account under supervision. I have absolutely no problem with her not having access to all the other platforms. It'll make it far easier to say 'no it's against the law' this time around.

This can only be a great thing. Children deserve a proper childhood and a chance to grow without the appalling influence this brings to them. They need space to grow and develop without this.

I have not shared any personal information online and I wish to keep it that way.

I do not think every post a person makes on every social media platform should include a signature that includes the users photograph, address, name and date of birth. This is essentially what this new mandate will be doing. Because that information will be held by whichever data company the government goes with.

The joke of it all most socia media bullying is attributed to whatsapp and they will not be subject to this new restriction.

The ignorance to what is really going on here is astounding!

This is not a "ban" this is pushing through digital ID.

The problem with them not having an account is that you can’t log it down. They seem to be able to watch everything, but without the chance of limiting what they watch to specific channels? So the chance of them watching inappropriate stuff actually increases?
As said above, completely agree with tiktok, instagram etc, but youtube works differently from these.
You can’t not allow them youtube either as so much educational stuff is hosted on them.
What is needed for youtube is child accounts that allow only specific approved channels (Corbett maths etc) not a ban. So kids have to ask for each channel to be authorised.

I agree with the ban. I well remember the constant arguments with ds because all of his friends were allowed various platforms from a young age, but we insisted on sticking to the age restrictions. It was literally every night and we had "i don't care what your friends' parents do, our priority is you" on repeat for months on end. Even now, I have so many conversations with him about how just because he's seen something on TikTok it doesn't make it factual.

Dd watches YouTube (lots of research and 'how to' craft videos - she's very much a visual learner) which I gather she'll still be able to do, she just can't have an account. She creates content (craft videos, no face/ body shots), but she does this on my account under supervision. I have absolutely no problem with her not having access to all the other platforms. It'll make it far easier to say 'no it's against the law' this time around.

I’m staggered this isn’t happening already and that you’d prefer to throw vulnerable children under the bus to protect adults!

I agree, adding Social Media to the list sounds fairly innocuous, but it's the impact on other users that concerns me.

Any adult who wishes to continue to access SM on the restricted list, will have to do an age check that will include personal information that identifies you, and according to the AI and Technology minister may include having to share your passport details.

Are you prepared to share this data with companies that have repeatedly been fined hundreds of millions of pounds for breaches to personal data protection legislation?