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    Australia has banned social media for under-16s & governments from Denmark to Malaysia - and even some states in the US, say they plan similar steps.
    Futurology

    Australia has banned social media for under-16s & governments from Denmark to Malaysia – and even some states in the US, say they plan similar steps.


    Doesn't this miss the core problem? Social media is divisive, dishonest & addictive by design. Great that one country is protecting kids from it, but it doesn't change Big Tech.

    Why does the rest of the world have to go to so much trouble to protect billions of people from a tiny number of bad people?

    People spend money on home security because they don't know who the burglars are, but here we know exactly who we need to deal with, and there aren't very many of them either.

    Australia social media ban for under 16s to take effect

    Australia has banned social media for under-16s & governments from Denmark to Malaysia – and even some states in the US, say they plan similar steps.
    byu/lughnasadh inFuturology

    View 16 Comments

    16 Comments

    1. Smooth_Bandito on

      Even before the tech billionaires took over the social media scene, this was a problem. A kid in my high school killed himself over something posted on MySpace.

      We’re all aware that social media is bad for a developing brain. Is this a harsh step? Sure. Is it probably the healthiest thing for a child to just be banned from using the platforms? I think so.

    2. Xhosant on

      Among other things, being able to codify what needs dealing-with in regards to the handful is a challenge.

      Another of those things, one that is a problem with the current approach too, is that some things some would mark as to-deal-with, others would mark as a positive effect, and perhaps be correct.

    3. mr_sinn on

      It makes what big tech does irrelevant, they’ve proven themselves unequipped or uninterested in moderation their platforms and we’re tired of dealing with their incompetence so they’re being cut out of the decision making. 

    4. Slight-Blackberry813 on

      Social media will go down in history as killing more(mostly children) people than crack and multiple wars combined.

      It’s devastated entire generations.

    5. Alternative_Wait8256 on

      Social media should be banned for everyone. The world was a much better place before social media existed.

      Im honestly shocked it hasn’t been banned for children in more countries yet.

    6. BaronGreywatch on

      It’s more that parent’s aren’t controlling their children’s access to the internet so someone thoight damage control was a good idea. Sure, parents doing it would be better but I’m not sure how that gets enforced. I’m sure people will find ways around it anyway.

    7. OrionGeo on

      You’re definitely right, a lot of companies ARE missing the core problem, but I also think it’s because they’re opting for the easier fight. A lot of beneficiaries or big tech companies themselves would likely push back hard, and I doubt leaders want that headache. So I guess it’s just easier to skip the fight altogether.

    8. IndependenceOk7554 on

      yea. they rather restrict peoples freedoms than daring to limit multinational billion dollar corporations in any way. 

    9. Xalence on

      Do you have a link for the source that says Danish politicians are takling about this? 😛

    10. testing_the_vibe on

      They say it is to protect the children, but bullying will still continue. The harm will be physical, not digital, and those who want to, will find ways to stay online, possibly by risky means that pose a greater threat. If they were concerned about the children, they would be enforcing laws that made the tech companies responsible for ensuring their platforms are safe for those using them. Don’t penalize the users just because the tech is too complicated for the old men in power to understand.

    11. Monarc73 on

      This is just a BS excuse to de-anonymize the internet. (Governments HATE not being able to punish your criticisms.)

    12. TemetN on

      While I agree with the general thrust of your point here, the weird thing for me about that ban was reading the list of allowed/banned sites. The choice to ban reddit and youtube, but not wha’s a or pinterest is just bizarre. It seems like an ineffective and arbitrary list.

    13. PerfSynthetic on

      Did they ban Bluesky?

      I can’t find any news sites saying they included that site in the blocked list.

      The issue isn’t ‘currently low risk because only 50k kids use it.’ The risk is how people shift to something else when something is blocked. The users will always find something else to fill the gap.

      Having lower user count is a bad metric for safety.

    14. TypeOneCallum on

      Just saw the current yougov poll for the same law to be applied in the UK and it is currently 81% agree that there should be the same in the UK.

      I can’t remember the last time I saw that high a percentage of people in the UK agree on anything

    15. boondoxDMdevil on

      Tech companies literally design their apps to be as addictive as possible to rise to the top. It has gone passed the MySpace and early Facebook days where it is a social tool where you can keep up with people and friends to a dopamine slot machine.