Australia plans social media ban for under-16s

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzd62g1r3o

48 comments
  1. The more and more time goes by, the more and more I think social media was a mistake, and has more cons than pros for humanity.

    I just don’t nor do I want to know what everyone else is doing at every moment, and that’s before how clear it’s been how easy it is to influence and manipulate large amounts of people through it.

  2. Years ago a guy from google said all the techies’ kids go to schools with pen and paper, no electronics. Go figure.

  3. I wish we could ban it for all ages. Social media was such a mistake, and I think it’s already caused a lot of damage with the development of zoomers and later generations.

  4. I’m pro ban of it for all ages. It’s made people so fucking stupid and created wild division.

  5. I’m fairly convinced that algorithmic social media and liberal democracy cannot coexist. It’s just too easy to manipulate the masses from behind the curtain. The more we crack down on it, the better.

  6. Thats great I hope Canada follows suit. My child is NOT going to have access to social media, if he wants to find something on the internet, he’s going to have to deal with what I did. 28bps modem speeds. If he wants to see that “sexy” photo, he’s waiting 45+ mins like I had to.

    You gotta dedicate yourself to whatever the fuck you’re trying open. Not 20 things in 5 seconds.

    Yeah, I’ll probably have to normalize for photo size now, but thats beside the point.

  7. I can’t reconcile how chill Aussies appear to be, with how draconian conservative their government is.

  8. Good. Because statistics showing that raised by TikTok GenZ is absolutely screwed, where men are overwhelmingly shifting far-right, while women overwhelmingly shifting far-left and these groups of people living in absolutely different realities despite being same age and a lot of them hate each other

  9. No idea how they will enforce it.

    Seems to be the start of making all Australians pass over more information to get on social media.

    There will be one child who shares how vpns work and the ban will be neutralised

  10. Hahahhahahahha how the fuck are they going to enforce this?

    Let the platforms self enforce (as currently planned) and you get people lying about their age like on pornhub (stop lying, we’ve all done it). Let the government do it (which they aren’t planning to by the way) and congratulations, you’ve created a surveillance state.

    And what’s even going to count as “a social media platform”? Too specific and the ban is useless, too broad and people simply wouldn’t stand for it because having social media is too convenient.

  11. As an Australian, I can say that a lot of people think it’s a good idea, but there’s virtually no way to enforce it.

  12. I honestly think this is a good idea.

    Most adults aren’t equipped to handle the deluge of misinformation they get through social media, let alone children. It’s only going to get worse with generative AI. Engagement focused algorithms are breaking our brains and tearing apart our societies.

  13. This is a thinly-veiled attempt to force us to link our digital identity to our physical IDs

  14. How will they truly ban them. Cause what they say in the article: “it would be up to Australia’s online regulator – the eSafety Commissioner – to enforce the laws.”…. LOL this will not work

  15. Yeah social media is trash as I reply on a social media platform. However good luck banning kids from doing shit,parents get in trouble for giving them a clip,there’s no punishment for stealing cars,doing burgs and stabbing people and this drop kick reckons he’ll take away their apps

  16. The amount of support for this in the comments section is wild. I for one do not want to go back to media narratives owned by a select few organizations.

  17. For anyone that isnt australian or unaware. This is not about protecting children, this is a direct attack on australian privacy and freedom of speech. Australia does not have any freedom of speech rights.

    The only way this is enforceable is to require all citizens of all ages to use their new digital id to access social media sites. And as an aside, australia is notoriously bad at protecting peoples data and we have had major breaches of government services.

    Our politicians have and do sue people who speak out against them while they themselves enjoy protected speech even when they lie due to parliamentary privilege: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barilaro_v_Shanks-Markovina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barilaro_v_Shanks-Markovina)

    This bill has bipartisan support as our politicians on both sides are notoriously thin skinned and always complain about things they read about themselves online.

    This is not a good thing.

  18. Glad they can’t do this shit in the US as I’d probably violate the 1st admentment. Most people communicate and get their news and info from social media brocade no one watches TV anymore. Sure it’s easy to get manipulated, but most people’s source of info would be completely gone and put back in the hands of large media companies

  19. Labor tried this like, 15 years ago, and failed miserably.

    With everything at stake in the world due to the spread of misinformation, propaganda and just hateful garbage, this is a pretty important thing to get right for our democracy to survive, but Labor will fuck it up and piss everyone off.

  20. anyone who can figure out how to make this work, ensuring that only a specific person is using a platform…Netflix would seriously like to talk to you.

  21. Social media is toxin. It operates on the identical algorithmic principles as video gambling to trigger a feedback loop of reward to hook you then it creates echo chambers to further increase the likelihood you’ll get those likes, etc. People who have mastered using this system have been basically allowed to reprogram entire populations.

    Would you allow your 15 year old to play video gambling? If the answer is no- then a parent should make the choice to restrict them from using it. There’s ample controls on most devices to block these things. The government shouldn’t and shouldn’t need to do it.

    Remember- if a service or product is free, then you are likely the product. This is absolutely true of social media.

    The irony of writing this on social media is not lost on me.

  22. Do it. I’m in America and just. Do it and never look back. Do it before it’s too late please

  23. Without social media I’d have nowhere to go for safety as a troubled teen. I’d be dead 🙁

  24. In 20 years from now there will be strong evidences and documentaeries on the side effects of socials on young people.

    We need to take action immediately

  25. I remember in primary school when kids had facebook accounts when the rules stated that you had to be at least 13 to create one.

    How well will this rule be enforced?

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