Those that are Omg about social media,

There are things called dictionaries, to help you check the spelling of “libraries”.

Because I am a single parent and my son spends a lot of time with his dad, my dad and my sister whilst I work 12.5 hour day/night shifts. They all allow him to mindlessly scroll when I am not around and I cannot stop that as I need the childcare to work. Now it’s law (I know it’s not yet) I can enforce it with all the people rather than just accept it happens.

And by addicted I mean the mindless scrolling aspect that all us adults have these days too. It’s just an easy way for a dopamine fix and it needs to stop for kids.

I’m in favour for it. I would be more in favour of the tech companies amending their product so it’s less damaging and addictive but will settle for this as the first step. Instagram algorithms feed eating disorders and self harm content to children especially girls. TikTok in China feeds inspiring content to Chinese children telling them to work hard and they can be an astronaut etc. TikTok in the west feeds similar crap that Instagram sends so no thank you.

If we have to use Digital ID for social media then I am personally happy to give it up. Instagram shows me things I don’t follow and I never see the content of the people I am most interested in.

Won't mention the spelling then 😁

I really hope this ban leads to current children actually doing things to amuse themselves rather than being amused by endless short videos and scrolling. The young adults I meet through my job rarely have any hobbies or interests and haven't learned any skills outside of school. I grew up without the internet and my own children were mid teens before it came along and finding things to do, being creative, reading, sport, imaginative games, actual in person conversation with friends and bog standard TV were all options which seem to pass so many kids by these days.

Depending on what phone/platform you have or use you may not need to supply id. With the update to ios26 recently it did an age check after it installed. Because of the length of time I've had my phone/phone number/had apple phone/longterm use of credit cards etc it can take your age from that, i didnt need to use any id. It may operate on this principle, either at phone level or each platform; so it’ll know the length of time you’ve had accounts/phone number/credit cards linked to phone etc etc, so it is likely that adults of age won’t need to upload id.

I had to upload a photo of myself and I think it was passport or driving licence (photo id of some kind) a while ago when one of the credit card apps updated, to prove my identity, rather than my age tho. Assume it’s for fraud reasons. But I didn’t have a problem with doing so, it’s obviously a term to continue to use their app. Tho I’d not really want to upload id direct to a sm app, but due to being confirmed as an adult on my actual phone, and therefore being able to access anything that might be age restricted etc ( and yes, there are plenty more things online that are 18+ than porn, before anyone says that 😂), I’m assuming any sm I do use, which isn’t much, will not need age verification separately in my case (and those of any iPhone user, I presume).
Obviously I’m not sure of any android form of this.

eta:typos

How childish.

It's like you haven't met Facebook 😆

I doubt Facebook will be asking people who joined in 2013 for digital id...

The ban is the best thing that has happened for our young people. Older people (mumsnetters) fretting about some hypothetical digital ID... Come spend some time in my college and see the state of our young people. Anxious to the point of being unable to enter classrooms, lacking basic skills such as initiating conversation, constant overwhelm, such limited attention span that they can no longer sit through a lesson, bullying, misogyny... The list goes on and on and on.

Social media is devastating our society. We owe it to our kids to protect them and to protect our society. If your biggest worry about this is 'digital ID', well you're privileged. Our kids have bigger and more immediate worries, and our government has done right to protect them

I think it should be by school year rather than age. Totally relating to my own dc but she’s an end of August birthday and her whole group of friends are September/october so I worry about her being excluded from the group because she’s not on snapchat and the rest are. Sounds minor but that matters to teens.

I’ve tightly controlled social media and have rules in place that have worked well for us. I only allowed 14yo twins (15 in August) TikTok last weekend because school promoted it as a bloody revision tool for GCSEs. Makes it hard to parent and deny them that - apparently it’s great 🙄 but I know few of their friends have any rules in place so I get why the government stepped in.

On the whole I support the ban.

But sadly it won't make my dc read more. They can read, but just don't enjoy it and never have - despite my best efforts ever since they were babies. Ds used to enjoy being read to at least, but dd never has. I've been a proper book worm all my life, so I have no idea how this has happened.

Because the very nature of Social Media is that it’s highly addictive! So we have to acknowledge that they’ll be a transition period when teens who’ve become accustomed to it will find it very difficult. To think that someone who’s been glued to TikTok for years is suddenly going to immerse themselves in in a paperback novel is unrealistic!

I support the ban by the way.

Because you can have both, it doesn’t need to be one without the other. I’m an English lit lecturer, I’ve dedicated my life to studying and teaching literature. I can read for hours every day but still spend time online, I have the autonomy to choose how to spend my time. I also want to extend that autonomy to which apps my children access.

But it isn't linked to your health records (which would be a different thread), your shopping habits, political views or anything else.

What’s the issue with this digital id thing people keep going on about ? Surely if you have a passport the government know absolutely everything about you anyway considering you have to give so much information to apply for one

Why is it a sneaky way into digital ID?

As a parent of young children I’m very pleased because it takes the pressure off and will make a more level playing field. But I have noticed that people who are anti the ban tend to have older children, who may have already let their children have it… so to consider that they maybe didn’t make the right decision is difficult (and hence they go very hard as to why social media is not a problem). Attitudes are changing.

I see access to children on social media as a greater issue than most things, and although I am also very against digital id, after reading many books and studies on the topic.. thinking of my own experiences.. early content I used to see (pro Ana sites, videos of disturbing content shared at school etc) I am extremely glad the ban is happening. My parents were also excellent parents, I achieved very well, and was largely a good kid. Recognising the harms in terms of mental health, addiction, cognitive development and WHY social media is not appropriate for children is about MORE than ‘good parenting’. If it’s not suitable, damaging and dangerous (studies overwhelmingly say it is) tech companies and platforms should not be profiting from children. And that’s all children, not just the ones with good parents with excellent parenting skills.

Only if we let it.

And it's taken this to block it? Excellent parenting skills!

lol

OMFG I am ROTFLMAO at how old we all are 😁

PMSL

My mother did too once and responded lol to someone texting to say their husband was dying.