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

Nobody is being ‘made’ to do anything, I must’ve missed the memo where having social media accounts was mandated by the government by law 😂

You already have digital ID if you drive or holiday abroad via photo driving licences and passports.

If you're a company director, then you now have to have digital ID proof, with your identification validated against your passport and/or driving licence.

If you've recently bought a house, rented a house, appointed a solicitor or accountant, opened a bank account, your ID will have needed to be checked, almost certainly via a digital ID checking service.

For many people social media is an essential part of earning a living.

I think adults do have a right to free speech though. We've seen how mainstream media often do not report accurately. SM bridges this gap. If we start putting ID for adults, we're reducing certain cohorts of adults who are worried about anonymity (eg for their own safety). People will start self-censoring political opinions because they're worried the state will be watching. This is a slippery slope. The Internet is an adult space. Parents should supervise and teach their kids, simple as that. Just like they would when walking down a road.

That Labour left out banning Bluesky (lots of inappropriate/pdf material there) should tell you something.

If you’re using a platform to earn a living you’ll already have shared banking and personal ID details with that company, they have to verify who they’re paying.

And if it’s your sole income you’ll also be submitting a tax return as a sole trader, so HMRC will know that’s who’s paying you, I don’t see what difference this makes?

BlueSky is included, that’s already been announced.

Nobody is really anonymous on SM now, there’s plenty of ways you can be traced if they really need to, the concept that is entirely anonymous is very naive.

The people opposed are thinking not just of what is being proposed, (of course they'll make it sound lovely) but what could easily be implemented AFTER. Once they have your details what's stopping them putting more and more restrictions in "in the name of good"?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

So you're saying it should be made even less so? If you're tired of spam now, just wait until someone hacks the system, uses AI, and creates scams are even harder to tell are fake.

You clearly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Oh ok that's new, must be due to all the backlash they're getting. Ok so they need to also ban whatsapp, Internet tv, crunchyroll, Google and bacon. OR they can put pdfs and rapists in jail, which they are not doing. They let them out to put whatever disgusting material online they want.

Maybe they’ll ban MN, and in the age old words of Why don’t you… we can all go and do something less boring instead 😁

The point is we are not routinely giving up this information to, in all likelihood, the cheapest bidder of the government contract for them to lose/sell our personal data.

The government and tech should be kept far apart. Anybody remember the Post Office Horizon scandal? And they were supposedly a well regarded IT company.

There are plenty of ways to deal with the issue of social media use in children. They do not need to go down the digital IT road.

Rather than the gov saying "you can't post on this site without proving who you are", they are putting it as "we were unable to verify that aren't under the age of 16, please upload your ID to prove that you are". Spot the difference? Those on here thinking this does not affect them are badly mistaken. All of us will have to upload their ID to post on forums and social media, because if you don't they we can't prove you're not a kid, and we can't have that because its 'illegal',

Hi there,

We thought users on this thread might be interested to know that we're hosting an AMA with Baroness Beeban Kidron tomorrow. She's been one of the most influential campaigners behind efforts to regulate tech platforms and strengthen protections for children online, and her new book USERS: How Big Tech Took Control and How to Fight Back is published this week.

If you'd like to ask a question, you can post on the AMA thread here.

Thanks,
MNHQ