Today’s Social Media Ban Announcement: Discussion

[ByeByeTikTok]

I haven’t seen a thread for today’s expected ban on social media for Under 16s so thought I’d start one. If there already is one pls link and I’ll get this deleted.

What will it likely include?
What won’t it include?
How do you and your kids feel about it, especially if they’re already using it?
Will you follow it, and when?
Will people try to get round it?

It's such a minefield for kids now I can understand parents banning everything. Working full time, monitoring homework.

Yes, everyone will require a digital ID in order to log on and VPNs would be banned like in China.

What do you get out of making things up?

This has categorically not been said and given a very similar policy has been rolled out in Australia without digital ID there’s literally nothing to suggest it would talked place here.

There are ways around a VPN ban and even citizens in China find ways, but it's a constant game of cat and mouse between the VPN providers and the government. I don't know how people pay for the VPNs and if these financial transactions are difficult to arrange.

It will happen eventually. As the social issues continue or escalate in this country, the government will seek ways to stop them being discussed on social media. Expect more and more crack downs on demonstrations etc. They're already talking about restricting social media use for such discussions so people can't organise themselves.

You need to keep up with the government’s pronouncements a bit more.

Can you post a link to these pronouncements, please?

Where have they said that VPNs will be banned?

No, I think that’s you it would seem.

I would also appreciate a link to this announcement. Ta.

There is no plan by the government to ban VPNs, but it's not difficult to spot the direction of travel with regards to them. It will soon become apparent that VPNs will be used to help children and teens access sites and the government will then be 'forced' to consider a ban in order to 'protect the children'. This is as inevitable as 2+2=4 so, watch this space. A handy side effect will be that adults won't be able to discuss the ongoing social problems in the UK.

Anyone who trusts the government is woefully naïve.

Has Australia banned VPNs?

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/australias-swiss-cheese-like-age-verification-may-lead-to-a-vpn-ban-and-the-whole-countrys-digital-safety-is-on-the-line

Concerns have been raised and discussions are being carried out. Make of this what you will.

Look up Liz Kendall - she specifically stated to MPs that she will make a further statement in July around VPNs and also further measures such as AI chat bots.

OH this poster argued on and on yesterday that I hadn't heard on the BBC that Sky Blue was exempt from the social media ban. 🙄

Well you literally didn’t because it hasn’t been said anywhere.
You have even posted links to try and back up your claim, which you haven’t read either because they don’t say what you claim they say.
People have told you to point to one place you’ve heard this and you haven’t been able to. Every interview is online, you could very easily share it if it happened.

The oh no lefty Bluesky is exempt rubbish was started on X and was never backed up, followed by a similarly unsubstantiated GB news article, cue a whole load of people parroting the comment without bothering to look into it in any way themselves.

In fact the clearest comment regarding Bluesky has been from Liz Kendall stating “In Australia, Bluesky is included in the ban and we plan to use their model.”

Try but a ban isn’t going to help. Banning the use of social media means that we can’t put pressure on social media platforms to make a safer space for children because they can now assume that under 16s aren’t on them. Except they very much are. Has nobody ever been or met a teenager?! The things you ban completely become attractive forbidden fruit.

That’s not new on insta. I have it for my older ones and it’s really good.

My older ones don’t care about ban - their average use time is less than fifteen minutes a week as they’re sporty and always out with their friends. I think the government would have been better imposing regulation to make it supervised accounts for over 14s because realistically, the ones who don’t want to supervise will still allow their kids access, illegal or not. At least supervised accounts means the rest of us can actually parent and talk to their teens about what’s safe and appropriate.

Have any of you read careless people?

Really interesting view of what’s going on inside Facebook and how they don’t care how many people’s lives they damage to get attention, profit, and the ability to manipulate democracies.

social media is in theory able to be a great thing, but at this time it’s.a dark and damaging tool

They won't ban VPNs - they are essential tools in many workplaces for cyber security. But I agree Digital IDs will be brought in fully over time.

I am in favour of the ban 100% and hope it will apply to things like in-app messaging for under 16s like on Pinterest which has been a problem with unknown people filtering for common interests for kids and then contacting kids.

It’s gross to see the successful teen influencers (outliers among teens who use social media) and their parents saying they will help them get around the ban.

So inappropriate and self serving for their kids’ financial interests, and also tone deaf for how social media is affecting all the other kids whose lives it is negatively affecting.

Because their own kids can make a very small income by spending their whole time feeding the social media beast (and with the girls their parents saying they do try to remove the worst sexually abusive content that is sent to them..) that apparently justifies everything their kids having massive jobs to do at young ages.

If their kids’ ‘only outlet’ is apparently social media and that is the ‘only thing that their kids have got to do’, then that is not the amazing argument to support their case that these parents seem to think it is.
Ive always found the aggressive ‘momagers’ and ‘dadagers’ of children and teens that they push into a life of media work in the most public ways they can find, extremely creepy.

A BBC article today has parents saying they will be getting their performing children to circumvent the ban today: ‘Social media has risks but has given us opportunities too, teen influencers say’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gyp16wp6jo

Ridiculous argument
Let's not ban anything then
Honestly it should have been done years ago

Social media companies really need sorting out on every level
Fake news, scams, every type of vile site possible, pay little tax , flooded by bots, manipulating adult users never mind kids
Time someone took some action. This is a start

That article was nuts. The 14yr old girl influencer whose parents manage her account to shield her from the perverts who contact her, and a casual mention that some of them have turned up IRL to try and see her. They acknowledge issues but seem to say on balance it’s better that this girl can make a bit of money. And the first wee boy in the pic pouting. Seriously the adults need to enter the room in respect of this, I do hope this plan is not watered down.

That sounds like the BBC…

It’s a far less ridiculous argument than ‘let’s not ban anything’ 🤣🤣🤣🤣