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

[LizardLore]

Just being announced now - social media banned for under-16s.

My instinct is it’s great, but I am interested in other views. My kids are very small so not an issue here yet.

YABU - the ban is bad
YANBU - the ban is good

I personally would be focussed on only allowing under 16s to have a very basic phone that couldn’t link to the internet.

Then internet could be managed by parents in the home with appropriate filters and school etc

If that were possible it would happen now, there’s plenty of filters available and most social media is supposed to be 13+ and younger kids are still accessing inappropriate content.

I think a lot of adults even don’t understand how algorithms work and how quickly on social media you can end up being fed some very dark stuff without actually trying.

I would not.

My teens ( now early 20s) have/had active social lives and I think smart phones were very useful.

We had large reductions in bus ticket prices if you use the app. And as theyhad to get a couple of buses each way, that was very handy. They used their phones to open lockers at karate class and at swimming at the gym. Maps and transport apps to get around - especially when stuff changes , cancelled trains etc. Tickets for just about anything, paying for stuff, loyalty discounts, booking a haircut, so much easier using an app.

No social media does not mean no smart phone.

Can’t really see kids being interested in the things people talk about here.

But they could learn that adults also have problems, some adults are less mature than themselves, and how to make one chicken feed a family for a week.

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?

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.

This will not stop VB putting her daughter into the media spotlight via SM.

Why are so many people clueless about what is being proposed?

Just a thought, would this mean mea. Having a family photo of your children would be illegal under the new laws?

i think it's a good idea. i'd also support banning smart phones in schools. and i'd like schools to backtrack on the massive, aggressive expansion of iPads in classes too - we all talk about screen time concerns, but my daughter's school is the one teaching PE from YouTube, music lessons from YouTube, they've even had drawing lessons on YouTube - it's gone completely over the top. when i asked the school what apps my 5 year old had been signed up to exactly, i got a list of 11 they could confirm.. but she's mentioned 3 more on top! Including using AI tools to generate images during class time! This is in the Scottish Borders Council area.

This seems to be "normal" in the council schools where I am, but I'm appalled at what's happening. I'm not from here originally. my local council has brushed off concerns from a number of parents that i've heard have complained, now i've started to pay more attention to what's happening.

THAT is an equally big problem to tackle alongside the problems with kids being glued to their smartphones and bullied on social media. if i can't control what's happening during school hours, what chance have parents got outside of that??

I lived on MSN messenger at 15/16! 😍 I remember the little butterfly fluttering as it loaded.
I did get chatting to some random boy on there though who seemed abit dodgy- my mum looked through my messages behind my back and I was mortified, although now as a parent i'd do the same for my kids if I had to.

No, I think you should read up on what’s being proposed because this isn’t anything to do with it.

It’s concerning under 16s accessing social media content, not family photos including under 16s.

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

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 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 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've had similar thoughts, and conversations with dd. There's YouTube Kids, but as a tween, dd says the content is now too young for her. We control the content she watches via Family Link.

Absolutely agree!

I'm not against the ban but I am against digital ID being introduced through the backdoor.

And agree re WhatsApp too, that's where the worst of it happens.

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.

YouTube kids won’t be banned, YouTube need to work out how they stop access without an account at all and ringfence educational content better.

But most savvy kids will not be without social media.

No social media does not mean no smart phones.

"No" social media having a proscribed list leaves the door wide open for non social apps to fill the vacuum .

are forums considered social media?
online gaming via consoles?

The devil is in the detail. As a former IT professional , this is window dressing for digital ID.

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.

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.

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.