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?

Hence Digital ID and face scans are being proposed.

Not keen on this. My iPhone asked me recently to age verify and to share my ID, I refused so I probably won't be able to able to access social media too year

I'm pleased this is happening- I have 13 year old and 7 year old daughters- the 13 year old has never been allowed any social media access or YouTube, but it's getting harder to keep having the same arguments over it when "everyone else her age is on it" (which I know is true for many of her peers). Being able to say she can't legally have an account makes that easier, and hopefully means she won't be so much the odd one out for not having it (I know some will still be on it, but hopefully not all and hopefully not as openly discussing it).

There is really no excuse for it, because as I keep alluding to, there is a pertinent example of pretty much the same thing with last summer's age-verification legislation.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am absolutely convinced of the negative effects of unfettered internet access on teens and children, and I'm also wholly in agreement that it requires addressing sooner rather than later if only to protect the youngest who haven't yet fallen prey to the consequences their older peers have. However, speaking as an adult I am also wholly opposed to attempts to blanket censor media as this is a sledgehammer to a nut approach which ignores the fact the vast majority of adults are entirely responsible, and I'm also deeply sceptical of any government which is chock-full of people taking backhanders from tech firms (not the Musk type, the Palantir/Cambridge Analytica type) which suddenly decides censorship and widespread monitoring of the public is a great thing.

who is actually going to police a ban?

I think it's a great idea because it signals that these are age-inappropriate websites for under-16s, which they are.

Do I think internet-savvy teens can bypass them?

Yes, sure, but it helps firm up the position of parents who do want to take a stand.

Those that don't care are also letting their kids consume alcohol, have sex or smoke or whatever- and some kids will do these things anyway, but there's a line in the sand where it's generally accepted these things are actively harmful to growing brains.

I did not used to feel like this about my kids' social media use, but it has been an active harm for society- the highly sexualised content, the consumerism, their addictiveness, their attention spans, their lack of engagement with the social world and isolation in rooms, none of this is appropriate to be actively marketed to under 16's, similar to gambling websites.

((Sigh))
The government are saying “we are telling you what we will allow your children to access”
This is control.
Where does this lead? We are already told we cannot go on holiday with school age children when we want -so what comes next?
You can only take your children to suitable countries?
We the government will decide which school your children goes to -no choice?
We have discovered social media is really bad for everyone -so we are banning it all ? We are the government and acting for the best.
This is how socialism works. By telling the people what they can & cannot do -done in small stages, baby steps.
Socialism/communism, and left wing politics do not work.
Control control control.

@BrookStreamRiverlet surely it’s more to stop 24/7 accessibility and unfettered access to sites they should not be near. Maybe, it should be seen more like alcohol ban for under 18s. Parents are allowed to give their DC alcohol within certain guidelines but under 18s aren’t allowed to buy it themselves

Putting a marker down legally nudges behaviour. It gives parents and teachers the tools they need to move the dial

This is a very fair point, except it's only likely to be effective with those who care enough to take parenting seriously

Sadly, and as we see already, too many will carry right on with the usual excuses ... family life's too busy to bother with something else, the DCs are "regulating", they'll just access it at friends' houses, the other parent won't cooperate, they'll get round it anyway and all the rest

Worst of all these are likely to be the sort whose kids most need guidance, which is partly how this mess arose in the first place

Ofcom

Excuse me while I 😂😂😂😂😂💩

Wouldn’t face scans be enough?

Mine does. It told me I was ancient as I had had my Apple account for so long so passed the age check

I also think it signals to wider society- these aren't neutral products, they are socially harmful in all kinds of ways, so you may want to limit your own consumption or think through using it non-stop. There's no danger the billionaires are going to run out of customers any time soon.

Not sure how I feel on a personal level. My youngest has been unable to attend school or even complete any schoolwork due to a combination of severe mental and physical health issues. He is virtually agoraphobic. Social media is how he stays in touch with the couple of friends he has left. But I agree with the ban in principle. I have had some experience of the negative impact on my now 17yo other son and have had reason to curse the day we ever gave him a phone. Thankfully he uses social media pretty sensibly these days and has other interests that keep him off it most of the time.

Is Badenoch a socialist/left wing? She supports a ban.

This is true, some parents don't care, some don't feel they can do anything, some disagree with it (and can then let their children use their accounts then).

The most troubled teens will have the least restrictions, just as with drug use, alcohol, gambling, all these things are available more and less restricted to the socially disadvantaged.

I don't see this as a reason not to ban it for under-16's, because some parents are crap.

I think it's like the smacking legislation- it signals this is a harmful practice for young people, and in general, we disapprove.

How do you prove you're an adult?

The face scans will be linked to your digital ID (face scans for age are not reliable) in the same way it is to your banking app. The digital id will also be linked to you passport, social security, banking, nhs etc.

My 18year old uses his phone a lot. Mostly to watch shows and to talk to his friends. He’s not overly interested in Tik tok or instagram.
My 15 yr old is also unlikely to be impacted but again, he doesn’t have tik to or instagram. He does watch videos on you tube mostly about building games. I would absolutely give him access to that if it was banned before 16. He learns a huge amount on you tube.

My 8 yr old has no phone or social media. You tube is allowed but only two accounts he’s allowed to watch who are old school with longer videos. I will allow him to continue access to that and he will have WhatsApp to keep in touch with family who are further away as soon as he has his first phone, likely around age 12.

same as alcohol for example. Both my older two have been allows the odd drink since age 14. You remove things, you just make them want it more and then over indulge. What’s needed are boundaries.
I decide what my kids do, not the government.

The usual way - passport, birth certificate, ni number, etc. This information is used to create a digital ID that you have to use to log onto internet access. If you think it will just be used by government to monitor age then I have some magic beans to sell you.

I find it quite interesting and overall I'm coming down on the side of it being a good thing.

I was born in the late 80s. This meant things like Facebook actually only started to appear on our radar when I was around 16/17, and the mobile phones we grew up with were the brick affairs you could play snake on but not much else (I didn't get a smart phone until I was 21-ish). We had video games of course, but very little internet access which was dial up and slow at best!!

So I suppose I would consider my experience similar, albeit not identical for many reasons, to what these children will be experiencing.

I don't think pushing the problems down the line to 18-25 year olds is going to be as problematic as may be thought. I think growing up without social media lays key foundations re: maturity, resilience, intelligence, all things which mean an 18 year old is much better placed to handle social media than a 16 year old.

I think locking in those essential coping skills and solid foundations early, without the pernicious influence of SM, is actually going to be really positive for so many people. It will be great to see children building social skills the old fashioned way by playing in person rather than chatting over Snapchat.

Actually it just means that when she sees things illegally on other people's phones or on her own phone with a workaround, she won't be able to talk to you about them.

Yep

My daughters are 13 and 11 and don’t have any social media. I don’t think either of them will be fussed about having to wait a bit longer. In fact I think my eldest will be relieved that she has an excuse to avoid it for longer without the peer pressure.

The main issue is parenting. When you see babies with phones propped in front of them so that the parent can eat in peace, you can see where it is all going wrong. Toddlers pushed around in pushchairs watching screens. Parents don't interact with their kids, they just want them to be quiet.

I would never let DD have my phone when she was a toddler. It was expensive and bought for work not for a toddler to play with.

I was at an event where all the 10-16's were sat in a row on phones, not talking to each other. It is so sad. It took 1 parent to take the phone from their child to make all of them stop and interact with each other.

DD is 18 now but has never been into Insta or Tiktok. I have brought her up to see how shallow a lot of the stuff is, and how the influencers are being paid and don't really care or believe about the products.

Girls especially need to grow up normal, not thinking that they have to have huge lips and massive eyelashes to be accepted.

When DD was at school there were girls doing TT's in the classroom during lessons. They were all pouting on Insta from 11, wearing tiny crop tops and mini skirts. Where are the parents?

I agree that mobile phones should be banned in schools and I think that Insta and TT should be banned for secondary school pupils.