Florida gets closer to banning social media for kids under 16
Florida gets closer to banning social media for kids under 16
Florida is on the verge of passing one of the nation’s most restrictive bans on minors’ use of social media
Florida is on the verge of passing one of the nation's most restrictive bans on minors' use of social media after the state Senate passed a bill Thursday that would keep children under the age of 16 off popular platforms regardless of parental approval.
The measure now goes back to the state House, where the speaker has made the issue his top priority during the legislative session that ends March 8. Still, critics have pointed to similar efforts in other states that have been blocked by courts.
The bill targets any social media site that tracks user activity, allows children to upload material and interact with others, and uses addictive features designed to cause excessive or compulsive use. Supporters point to rising suicide rates among children, cyberbullying and predators using social media to prey on kids.
I can't get over how this "limited government" party has gone from supporting parental rights and promoting family values to becoming fascists.
To be clear, there's a ton of good to be said about preventing kids from using social media. Still, this should be up to the parents and, imo, all parents should limit or restrict it.
Isn't this same as the cigarette and alcohol ban for minors, I hear you ask? No. Alcohol and cigarettes can be purchased from a shop. The government isn't explicitly telling parents the kids can't consume them, it's banning the sale to minors. Social media and cell phones aren't really something a 14 year old can get at a store or happen upon at a party. So, if smoking was legal and the parent restricted their 14 year old from smoking, it wouldn't be too difficult for the kid to get a pack of their own. Social media is different. And shouldn't involve government restrictions. Because, how the F is the government going to oversee and reprimand this?
Old internet was absolute anarchy and it was better for it. There was a lot of fucked up shit out there but there werent algorithms manipulating you, sites tracking you, and purposely trying to sow discord for engagement. It was a more like a marketplace with a seedy section that you could visit if you were brave/stupid but you could happily just chill on your niche RC airplane forum if you wanted. The modern internet is more like a pushy used car salesman following you around telling you where to look and a cop following you around too.
Rather than banning social media for kids, we should be banning sites from implementing algorithms on them and tracking them. Frabkly, I'd like to see that for everyone, but its an easier political sell to protect kids from the predatory practices.
I remember the old internet as a refuge from the real world where I could be a sensitive nerd and I wouldn't get bullied for it. Cutting off access to outside ideas and communities for youth is a mistake. It also breaks any semblance of anonimity on the internet; how do you do age verification without having to upload an ID?
My immediate reaction was.. hmm, fuck it, protect the kids, I can get onboard.... And then I remembered the lonely parts of my childhood being better because of irc, BBSs, icq, aol warez groups, etc. "but it's a different world now"... Is it though? Now we have browser history and more forensics. Old Internet was really fucked up. For God's sake, we could get Faces of Death in the video store before we were 12, and kids had playboy on the bus. The bullying thing is worse for sure. Online was a place for the kids who got bullied to get away. Now it's a bullhorn. Actually conflicted on this.
This will require a driver license for every social media account. Adios anonymous political discourse.
Probably just a side effect no doubt.
Because that's what young people need, more ways to be excluded from society and isolated.
Florida or not, it's a good idea. You can't stop the internet and you can't ask international websites to do this (how would you stop federated websites doing this anyway that are in other countries? You can't)
Put it on the parents, teach your kids, monitor what they are doing, show some responsibility. Actually, don't give kids a phone at all until they're at least 14 or so
I dont want the government to ban things, but parents should not be giving their kids social media and smart phones at such young ages. Its overwhelmingly common, but a really bad idea.
I see a chance of Lemmy and mastodon becoming a lot more popular. Plus a spike in vpn useage. All they're doing is encouraging people to get clever and circumvent those rules. Fuck Florida
Get off my Facebook lawn kids reeeee
The social media is turning the kids into leftists. Can't have that.
Good start but we should ban it for everyone
As backwards as Florida is on most issues, this is actually just common sense at this point. We have the data that shows that exposure to social media, in all its "look at how awesome my life is!" shittiness, is detrimental to a child's social and psychological development. There's almost an entire generation of kids that have zero attention span, porn addictions, and depression from engaging in a completely untested and cutting edge form of communication that is way too open to bad actors and predators to exploit.
edit: I'm not making any comments about Florida's desire to control the flow of information, because at this point it's just conjecture.