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?

Well exactly. How strong is the evidence for the harms of social media relative to that of tobacco, alcohol or gambling?

These things need to be considered on their separate merits. Unless you’d support a list approach where the Secretary of State decides which whisky brands are banned for children based, seemingly, on the size of the distillery and taste of the minister.

I wasn’t sure about it, but now I know, so thanks for the info.

I was shocked at the amount of time some children are spending online. Some on for 10 hours a day at the weekend! Where is the parental responsibility in all of this? We had video games when I was a kid - I certainly wasn't allowed to play on that all day long. Mostly out with friends at the weekend. I pity the kids of today if this is what they are doing with their weekends.

dc1 (16) has no access to social media but she does have SS and only communicates with friends not random strangers. The interface is engaging and I like the disappearing message feature plus I believe you can't screenshot images? Better for privacy. She also knows not to share her location. I was about to allow ss for my 14 year old today after finishing exams 😂He will be disappointed.

I would have preferred to see a ban on specific features for under-16s rather than a ban on specific named platforms. New platforms will inevitably arise and existing ones may evolve, so I can't see how the law is going to keep up with that.

I also think the ban will lure many parents into a false sense of security, and they may end up having no idea what their children are actually doing online.

Why is BlueSky left out of the ban, that is odd.

Think it’s bloody brilliant. Please tell me it’s UK-wide because I have no faith that our SNP overlords will do something so sensible…

My 11 year old recently got a phone but there’s no social media on it. Just text messages and duo lingo. She hasn’t actually asked for anything beyond that (yet). I wish her secondary school would ban them. Instead they have a box at the front of each class but free use of them at breaks and lunchtime. I cannot understand why this is allowed.

I can only imagine future MN threads where children with divorced parents will want to live with the slack parent who lets them use social media.

I’m pleased about the ban. My almost 14 yo has Snapchat to chat to friends. Doesn’t go on TikTok, instagram or x or anything else. I’ve told him he’ll have to switch back to WhatsApp. My other child is 10 and already her friends have TikTok and she badgers me for it (I say no) so this is just in time for us.

when will it officially come in?

It’s a shower of shit, how can children vote at 16 but can’t access social media? Drive a car at 17 but there’s likely going to be an 8:30PM curfew for those at that age. You can join the army at 16.

for younger children they will know no different - fine.

My child, my rules - I check my child’s phone, I limit screen time.

How about they spend more time cracking down on the people who misuse social media ie grooming, bullying.

You can share any screen shots you want. It’s just that if you screen shot the Snapchat it notifies the other user that you’ve screen shot it. So the other person knows but you can do what you want with the shot.

or you could just take a shot of the screen with another device.

This!!

Surely this is the point of it.

And frankly - why do under 16s need social media? There are plenty of channels where they can access REGULATED and age appropriate entertainment and content.

Maybe 16 year old children shouldn't be voting or joining the army?

Maybe focus on that instead if saying: well I want my child to be able to message strangers and watch extreme content as well as being shot by a drone 🤯

Spring next year.

Think it’s bloody brilliant. Please tell me it’s UK-wide because I have no faith that our SNP overlords will do something so sensible…

Electronic Comms, Internet and so on is entirely Reserved, so it's nothing whatsoever to do with the SNP, Plaid, Sinn Fein etc.

The irony being, given it's just as pointless and unworkable piece of knee-jerk, soundbite politicking as the laughable porn "ban", if Devolved administrations had proposed this it would immediately be derided as batshittery.

Also the Chinese apps. A Chinese owned app was the no1 place that Australians moved after their ban.

This ban feels badly thought out. Likely to drive activity to the platforms the govt has least control over, and give young people a crash course in circumventing internet safety controls.

I would change it to under 21's

Yes this.
Tory "austerity" ripped away sure start, cut health visitors, baby groups, youth clubs, MH support for teens and parents and tech companies have cruised through the gap picking up all the winnings. I will never forgive that prick Johnson for prioritising opening pubs and restaurants in 2020 instead of trying to find a way to safely open schools, even if PT and outdoors, for school staff and pupils.

I still fucking hate Cameron, Osborne and Duncan-Smith for austerity. We will pay the price for decades. (Orignal Frother).

I would go way further than the proposed ban. I honestly think social media sites should be massively more regulated for people of all ages, if not banned entirely.

For under 18s we should definitely do what's proposed, but I would also love to restrict access to smart phones generally. A dumb phone with location tracking and basic text messaging only. Nothing that they can get addicted to or damaged by.

Has the ban had any significant positive impact in Australia? (Genuinely asking)

i dont see why people are upset about this? Its common sense i think that kids should not have access to a place where they can be easily exploited and abused. I really hope that even if it doesny stop access as much, it will stop teens posting as others watching can get very influenced very quickly. I understand why the potential social media curfew has caused some upset though- yoi can vote,have a NI and are considered essentially an adult in many areas (healthcare for example) , but still have curfews on social media?

Roblox is also used for grooming. I doubt that will be included in the ban.

This is also part of the problem. It doesn't include gaming chats. So a lot of problems will merely shift.

At least if my 14 yo daughter is using my instagram account she’ll mainly be seeing puppies, recipes and home decor. Any changes to the algorithm I would notice and swiftly fix.

Said on a post, on a social media platform…

Similar to others on this thread - we've restricted access to all social media, and WhatsApp for our tweenage kid. It has been really helpful to have done this in agreement with other parents of their friends, who have felt the same - means that the 'everyone else does it!' argument does not stand-up and does not appear to have impacted anyones' social lives. If anything, it has kept them out of school dramas.

Of course there will be kids and parents who ignore the ban, but it will change the background conversation and social acceptability of use of social media by children, and it's also a good opportunity to talk about why the ban is in place with our kids.