Comment on UK police chiefs call for ban on social media for under-16s
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 6 days agoWhether that’s true is irrelevant. This isn’t something the government should be getting involved in, outside of prosecuting parents for neglecting their kids.
I don’t let my kids use social media because they aren’t ready for it. If they are ready for it, but my government says they can’t, I’m going to use technical means to subvert the law. It should be my choice if my kids can access something, not the government’s.
If the government wants to tackle this, they should be working with parents on the issue. Maybe sponsor a FOSS content blocker or work with social media orgs to create a concept of custodial accounts, and have some way for that to work w/ the FOSS content blocker. But don’t unilaterally ban something because you think it’s harmful.
If I want to smoke, that should 100% be my right, provided I’m not bothering other people. If my kids smoke, that should be 100% on me for being a negligent parent and allowing them to do something harmful (assuming I should know about it). The government shouldn’t be making parenting decisions for me, that’s my responsibility.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
I can get behind that, but that’s not typically the way it works currently. Typically laws restrict children from the use or purchase of certain harmful substances. Same thing with access to pornography. With the data on what SM does to mental health in children it makes no sense restrict those other things but not this.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Agreed, but not in the way you intended.
If a kid wants to smoke or drink, they’ll smoke or drink. The laws that exist won’t really stop that, so they mostly punish innocent people. If I want a 6-pack of beer and I trust my kid to get it for me, I can’t just give them cash and send them down to the corner store to get it. I used to be able to do that, but now I can’t, and yet kids still have access to alcohol and tobacco.
Social media is similar. If kids want to be on social media, they’ll find a way. They’ll falsify evidence, use VPNs, or get someone else to sign up for them. It largely hurts the innocent who now have to show ID to sign up, potentially violating their privacy in case the site doesn’t properly secure or delete the data.
In both cases, the real solution is w/ poor parenting. The way you stop a kid from smoking, drinking, or getting addicted to social media is the same: you build trust, explain the risks, and teach them how to interact with it responsibly through being a good example. Legislative solutions aren’t solutions, they’re feel-good measures that end up doing more harm than good IMO.