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?
how the F is the government going to oversee and reprimand this?
By requiring the platforms to verify the age of their users with identity checks and government ID. I’d bet the 16 cutoff age is because that’s the age when teens get either driver’s licenses or state ID cards.
Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with protecting kids. It’s entire aim is to tie online accounts to real life users.
The thing is online access can happen anywhere and because hardware is firmly in the hands of the user, the user controls the dissemination of the data. There’s plenty of AI out there that can generate valid driver licenses with complete PDF417 barcodes related to the state in question.
There’s no way Florida is going to commit the required funds it would take to police every single aspect. And social media sure as shit isn’t going to bend over and have that policing thrown onto to them freely. At some point Florida will require telephone carriers and ISP to play ball to some degree and then POOF, you’re now in Federal territory.
That’s why all this state level law making is so bunk. It’s not a problem that can be solved by just saying “Oh, well <16 yo cannot get on.” Unless the State has some really deep pockets to invest in their own technology, Good Luck playing wack-a-mole.
Additionally, there’s zero ways I would be scanning a driver’s license into some random website. Not with how every other day they leak massive amounts of information. So a lot of these states start getting what pornhub and what not are doing, “Oh you’re from Utah? Okay, well I guess you’re paying for a VPN for your porn.” And that’s ultimately what happens. Everyone just starts using a VPN because the State wanted to pass some “token” law to look like they were doing something.
It’s all people ignorant of how technology works attempting to legislate technology. They are never going to be successful in any of this, but I guess whatever plays well for your base.
If spineless liberals let Republicans get away with this shit, and they are, they can do whatever they want. You have to actually stop them
Then they can very easily create a registry of whatever they want. Someone put pronouns in their bio that don’t match their ID? On a list. Someone signed up for a dating app with their government ID and they’re looking for same-sex partners? On a list. It doesn’t even have to stop there, though that’s definitely where it’s starting. Say on social media that you’re am atheist? On a list. Use your social media presence to criticize the government? You guessed it, on a list.
They can already do that just through whatever back doors they can get into social media companies if the corps don’t already just give them the data.
What this is about is shutting young folks up online because they’re the most vocal opponents of stuff like the don’t say gay bill.
Personally I’m for government issued universal ID, and I think the government should provide a secure verification API, but I don’t think this because I think there should be age restrictions, I think it because I think it’d be a viable solution to mass botting. Something like 2FA being mandatory would also help so that just stealing someone’s card doesn’t automatically give you access to all their shit.
It’s a viable solution to mass botting in the same way that burning down your fucking house is a viable solution for that spider that disappeared behind your headboard.
Simple, it’s not really about the kids, it’s about control of the internet.
I fundamentally agree that this would best be served by parents enforcing limits.
However, my experience is that this kind of parenting is much much harder than people seem to understand.
If you’re one of a small number of parents who choose to limit social media, in a sea of parents who don’t limit at all, your children end up socially excluded. They get made fun of and ostracized from the rest of the kids. Your parenting decision makes their daily life much, much harder than it should be.
In practice, it means that as a parent there is no winning option. Or even really acceptable option.
For maybe the first time in my life, I feel myself siding with the government restrictions option.
Do you have any idea how easy it is to bypass a law like this?
Anytime the government says they are doing something to help the children, it is most likely an extreme infringement on the rights of non children.
Yeah, it’s not really teaching kids not to use it, but it will be a great teacher for how to bypass internet blocks. Young people already lie about their age on platforms, I mean I did that when I was younger.
It’s only a few steps further to change DNS or VPN to an area that allows underage and doesn’t require strict age verification.
Most laws are fairly easy to bypass. You can jaywalk all day, purchase illegal fireworks, drive your car at ridiculous speeds, etc.
Should we just stop trying because some people choose to break the law?
If even half of parents complied it would make it so very much easier to say no to social media for your own children. It would also provide a very tangible excuse for why you’re saying no.
Still, this should be up to the parents and, imo, all parents should limit or restrict it.
Just to be clear, you’re okay with the rapidly-rising suicide rate from children of parents who already choose not do so? Even though there’s no sign of a wide improvement in parenting or social media literacy?
