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[cormack12]

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c8e27p1p336o

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that under-16s will be banned from major social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.

The government says the measures are part of a plan to keep young people safe online and help address late-night scrolling on phones.

Mr Starmer explained that: "A full ban is the right choice" and saying it was needed to protect the wellbeing of children.

It follows a consultation which saw more than 116,000 responses, including those from parents and young people.

It says 90% of parents who responded backed a minimum age of 16 before anyone is able to access social media, with 85% saying the risk of social media outweigh the benefits.

....platforms like Tiktok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Threads.

 

[Nocty]

I'd personally ban it all, its cancerous

 

[Embearded]

Totally agree, social media is brain rot and not just for the children.
Influencers are social cancer.

 

[JimmyRustler]

I applaud the ban but considering it's coming from Starmer I don't think it was done with good intentions.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Totally agree, social media is brain rot and not just for the children.
Influencers are social cancer.

You can complain about the algorithm, you can complain about influencers, but the core of social media is people talking to each other. This is a bad precedent and lazy society solution to problems.

 

[Panajev2001a]

I'd personally ban it all, its cancerous

You realise that this forum is social media? Your group WhatsApp is social media, ICQ and Messenger, etc… was social media…

 

[Sohurmk833]

We all know that these commies don't ban social media for minors out of good intentions. They clearly don't give a fuck.

They just don't like that right right wing parties gain more and more influence on social media.

 

[Embearded]

You can complain about the algorithm, you can complain about influencers, but the core of social media is people talking to each other. This is a bad precedent and lazy society solution to problems.

They don't ban messaging apps are they?
Also people under 16 don't need to speak to others / strangers online. We grew up just fine having friends in the physical world and speaking to those friends over messaging programs like windows live messenger.

 

[Panajev2001a]

They don't ban messaging apps are they?

Why not? Those are social media too.

Also people under 16 don't need to speak to others online.

Why?

We grew up just fine having friends in the physical world and speaking to those friends over messaging programs like windows live messenger.

We also had work houses, children in mines, and women could not vote, etc… if you go far back enough.

Look, I am a big proponent of in person communication, face to face… but you are going down a slippery slope there…

 

[Dutchy]

You realise that this forum is social media? Your group WhatsApp is social media, ICQ and Messenger, etc… was social media…

Messaging apps are great because it doesn't function on people desperately trying to be funny or go viral. There's not rage-baiting, no scamming, no AI bots, no misinformation being constantly spread or algorithms perfectly tailored to the user without permission. It's for one thing only: To keep in touch with others.

You literally cannot say even remotely the same for any other mainstream social media.

 

[JimmyRustler]

You can complain about the algorithm, you can complain about influencers, but the core of social media is people talking to each other. This is a bad precedent and lazy society solution to problems.

You can counter every ban or restriction in the same way though. Why ban alcohol and cigarettes for minors? It's the parents job to educate them, no?

It has barely been more than 10 years since social media took off and it's effects have been disastrous to almost everyone. The small good it did is flooded by the bad.
I don't even need to point you to the (already available) literature, deep down everyone of us knows it.

Something needs to be done in the coming years. Talking about it hasn't got us anywhere so far. On the contrary, it seems to be getting worse by the day. You wanna wait until this sorts itself out on it's own? Like Gen Z getting enlightened on just how much it damaged their generation and them then restricting access to Gen Alpha? Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

 

[Trilobit]

You can counter every ban or restriction in the same way though. Why ban alcohol and cigarettes for minors? It's the parents job to educate them, no?

It has barely been more than 10 years since social media took off and it's effects have been disastrous to almost everyone. The small good it did is flooded by the bad.
I don't even need to point you to the (already available) literature, deep down everyone of us knows it.

Something needs to be done in the coming years. Talking about it hasn't got us anywhere so far. On the contrary, it seems to be getting worse by the day. You wanna wait until this sorts itself out on it's own? Like Gen Z getting enlightened on just how much it damaged their generation and them then restricting access to Gen Alpha? Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

If these bans require adults to have to register their social media accounts with digital ID then the purpose isn't to help kids, it's to stifle online discussion about subjects that are embarrassing and unpleasant to the government.

 

[JimmyRustler]

If these bans require adults to have to register their social media accounts with digital ID then the purpose isn't to help kids, it's to stifle online discussion about subjects that are embarrassing and unpleasant to the government.

Please... like the current open discussion online helped the Brits in any way... Last I've heard they still have rape gang doing their thing and people getting arrested for social media posts. Or did I miss how open discussion helped the UK in the past decade or two?

And online ID is coming, whether you like it or not. The internet will not remain the wild west forever. It's a miracle it actually remained for so long.

 

[Panajev2001a]

You can counter every ban or restriction in the same way though. Why ban alcohol and cigarettes for minors? It's the parents job to educate them, no?

It has barely been more than 10 years since social media took off and it's effects have been disastrous to almost everyone. The small good it did is flooded by the bad.
I don't even need to point you to the (already available) literature, deep down everyone of us knows it.

Something needs to be done in the coming years. Talking about it hasn't got us anywhere so far. On the contrary, it seems to be getting worse by the day. You wanna wait until this sorts itself out on it's own? Like Gen Z getting enlightened on just how much it damaged their generation and them then restricting access to Gen Alpha? Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

Something needs to be done… this is something… let's do this.

Comparing social media to guns and alcohol (holy exaggeration)… great. If you actually look back in time this rhetoric is not uncommon and always the same. BTW, this forum is social media too. Ah, maybe you back this blanket ban with random exceptions like Bluesky… yeah, more policies that cause the kind of cognitive dissonance that will get extreme people elected next… great job…

Not that this is not a push for Digital ID worldwide (how do you know those person 15 year olds are not using social media otherwise ) and the world asking for Orwellian like setups to have the state help them be moral.

"Curfews for older teenagers
As well as the outright ban for under-16s, the Government wants to introduce curfews for 16 and 17-year-olds.

The idea of the curfews would be to prevent older teenagers from engaging in unhealthy late-night scrolling habits, which parents and teachers blame for damaging young people's mental health and educational attainment."

from other articles. Go study effects of theory of punishment when you go from punitive to morally reformatory for real and you see that this is just where it starts. When it will affect you in something you like you will change tune, that is how it always goes.

 

[Panajev2001a]

And online ID is coming, whether you like it or not.

You see to like it and well, you will like the Social Score too I guess…

 

[calico]

Is government-aligned platform Bluesky exempt from the ban as was being rumoured? That's where the Rainbow Empire groomers migrated to, and I doubt the government would want to interfere with that operation.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

You can complain about the algorithm, you can complain about influencers, but the core of social media is people talking to each other. This is a bad precedent and lazy society solution to problems.

I don't mean to patronise with what is a fairly low brow response, but I think it is worth saying.

I don't think that communication is the core of social media, it might look like that, it might be marketed as that but really it's a dopamine machine that isn't designed for communication, it's one that is designed for engagement. And that dopamine machine dictates not only behaviour on the platform, but in the real world too. People seek to create content and media to generate more engagement and get a dopamine hit even if it means acting in a way that seems nonsensical under examination, even if it means creating a facade that doesn't represent themselves at all, even if it means that they act in a way that goes counter to what they originally signed up to do.

It happens here too, I think that the general tone /personality of this forum would like to say that that social media is beneath them, but I'd be extremely surprised if a decent percentage of people on this forum (read: practically everyone) don't respond favourably when their posts pick up positive reactions here. Same little hits of dopamine, and for at least some people that will influence the way they interact.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I'd personally ban it all, its cancerous

Agree with this, tbh.

I find it weird that 17 year old are considered robust enough to deal with social media when full grown adults are being exploited in various ways on social media.

What's crazy isn't banning it for children, it's not banning it for everyone.

 

[Nocty]

You realise that this forum is social media? Your group WhatsApp is social media, ICQ and Messenger, etc… was social media…

GAF is a very niche form of social media and even that is a bit of a stretch man cmon. Also the content and discussion here is a specific niche as well, with the vast majority of it being on topic and well moderated.

If someone starts being a cuntsworth here they get the ban hammer within reason, on social media people can do and say whatever the fuck they like, share and spread fake news, illegal content and porn and all the rest. It's a cesspit, and worse it is largely unmoderated especially platforms like X. Even worse still is that most of them are just free advertising now for onlyfans whoring, as well as 'content creators' getting paid actual money for engagement regardless of what shit they spout.

To compare GAF or other niche forums is a bit disingenuous.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Something needs to be done… this is something… let's do this.

Comparing social media to guns and alcohol (holy exaggeration)… great. If you actually look back in time this rhetoric is not uncommon and always the same. BTW, this forum is social media too. Ah, maybe you back this blanket ban with random exceptions like Bluesky… yeah, more policies that cause the kind of cognitive dissonance that will get extreme people elected next… great job…

Not that this is not a push for Digital ID worldwide (how do you know those person 15 year olds are not using social media otherwise ) and the world asking for Orwellian like setups to have the state help them be moral.

"Curfews for older teenagers
As well as the outright ban for under-16s, the Government wants to introduce curfews for 16 and 17-year-olds.

The idea of the curfews would be to prevent older teenagers from engaging in unhealthy late-night scrolling habits, which parents and teachers blame for damaging young people's mental health and educational attainment."

from other articles. Go study effects of theory of punishment when you go from punitive to morally reformatory for real and you see that this is just where it starts. When it will affect you in something you like you will change tune, that is how it always goes.

You forgot to mention how people will be hanged in the streets and we'll have public executions with the guillotine. You have to do better. /s

Fight changes 1o1: Paint to absolute bleakest future possible so no one even dares to think about changing anything despite being extremely unhappy with how things are at the moment.

Either propose a better alternative or... with all due respect... shut up.

 

[Trilobit]

Please... like the current open discussion online helped the Brits in any way... Last I've heard they still have rape gang doing their thing and people getting arrested for social media posts. Or did I miss how open discussion helped the UK in the past decade or two?

It's about creating awareness of the problems. Which is happening in the UK now. When the problems are identified and acknowledged and public pressure rises there's more likelihood of solutions later on.

And online ID is coming, whether you like it or not. The internet will not remain the wild west forever. It's a miracle it actually remained for so long.

It doesn't have to be inevitable. If people protest it and are very vocal and show that they won't accept politicians who try to usher it in, then things might be different. It's not a law of gravity that it needs to happen.

 

[calico]

It is also outrageous that government policy is to lower the voting age so that 16yo children can vote, but that they cannot have access to and participate in the public forum even a year before this.

Unless ofc it's a government-aligned platform where they will only be exposed to government-aligned messaging, then it's ok.

 

[Embearded]

Why not? Those are social media too.

Why?


We also had work houses, children in mines, and women could not vote, etc… if you go far back enough.

Look, I am a big proponent of in person communication, face to face… but you are going down a slippery slope there…

1. No they are not social media. Classic sms app and the good old MSN are nothing like facebook and instagram.

2. A 16 years old speaking to strangers online seems like an ok thing to you? How close do you need to monitor your child if you let it do that, read the conversations?

3. You clearly can spot the difference between not having facebook as minor vs working in the mines. Let's not go there.

The slippery slope started when we took our lives online and created online celebrities who are now telling our children how to live their lives and make idols out of them. It's been proven that most parents cannot monitor and control their kids online activity.

 

[Panajev2001a]

GAF is […] social media

So you agree with me it is. Nice . Shall you write to Evilore for his team to implement age monitoring or someone else in the thread is at it?

 

[SantaC]

They don't ban messaging apps are they?
Also people under 16 don't need to speak to others / strangers online. We grew up just fine having friends in the physical world and speaking to those friends over messaging programs like windows live messenger.

snapchat is a message app

 

[Panajev2001a]

It is also outrageous that government policy is to lower the voting age so that 16yo children can vote, but that they cannot have access to and participate in the public forum even a year before this.

Yeah well, . Apparently not a concern for those championing these kind of solutions….

 

[Panajev2001a]

You forgot to mention how people will be hanged in the streets and we'll have public executions with the guillotine. You have to do better. /s

Fight changes 1o1: Paint to absolute bleakest future possible so no one even dares to think about changing anything despite being extremely unhappy with how things are at the moment.

Either propose a better alternative or... with all due respect... shut up.

, how cutely repressive and aggressive you get when you do not get your way with the kind of politician fallacy argument. Maybe you should stay off of social media .

 

[JimmyRustler]

It's about creating awareness of the problems. Which is happening in the UK now. When the problems are identified and acknowledged and public pressure rises there's more likelihood of solutions later on.

People found ways to create awareness before... Perhaps without social media we will have actual journalists doing the job of journalism again instead of activist.

 

[ahtlas7]

Beautiful how people applaud this until government come for their communications. Glorious!

 

[Trilobit]

People found ways to create awareness before... Perhaps without social media we will have actual journalists doing the job of journalism again instead of activist.

Social media became an important source of news exactly because of traditional journalism avoiding reporting events objectively. Altmedia was born out of that refusal to depict reality as it was. This happened in lots of European countries and especially in Sweden. Without social media they'll just go further into that direction as there's no opposing voices.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Social media became an important source of news exactly because of traditional journalism avoiding reporting events objectively. Altmedia was born out of that refusal to depict reality as it was. This happened in lots of European countries and especially in Sweden. Without social media they'll just go further into that direction as there's no opposing voices.

No, what actually happened is that people inclined for the jouralism profession either stopped going into to journalism or waste their time away, doomscrolling on their phone, and instead all the big papers got flooded with activists. The few that actually do good journalism via social media are irrelevant due to the overwhelming amount of misinformation. I'd rather cut all that shit and then the honest people remaining make new papers that do actual investigations if the existing papers are beyond saving.

 

[StueyDuck]

I do think there is a way we needa stop kids, even at 16 who are still literal dumbasses from getting fired up and mentally fucked from political and radical rhetoric as well as extreme pornography....

however, something tells me the apps that are actually, literally harmful to children, like bluesky, reddit, discord are not going to be on that ban list.

this clearly isn't about protecting kids and it never will be about protecting kids.

 

[Neff]

 

[Agave]

I do think there is a way we needa stop kids, even at 16 who are still literal dumbasses from getting fired up and mentally fucked from political and radical rhetoric as well as extreme pornography....

however, something tells me the apps that are actually, literally harmful to children, like bluesky, reddit, discord are not going to be on that ban list.

this clearly isn't about protecting kids and it never will be about protecting kids.

It's clearly part of their political agenda to influence the youth to vote left, considering the only sites not part of the ban (Bluesky and Discord) consist mainly far-left users while platforms perceived as less aligned with those views face increasing restrictions and scrutiny.

In addition to Bluesky shockingly not being banned, it also contains a scary amount of "minor attracted" people ;-;

 

[Mistake]

As much as I agree that young people should touch grass, I was on irc at 12 soooo

 

[AJUMP23]

They did not ban Bluesky, and they are clearly just trying to control hearts and minds. The only news they want you to know is what has been sanctioned by them.

Banning it will probably just cause them to grow.

 

[Agave]

They did not ban Bluesky, and they are clearly just trying to control hearts and minds. The only news they want you to know is what has been sanctioned by them.

Banning it will probably just cause them to grow.

"Leftists want 16 year olds to vote.

They want 12 year olds to be able to consent to sex changes.

But they don't want those same teenagers to read conservative opinions on social media, only Blue Sky?"

Even then, they'll most likely rely on their parents for the news, essentially making them narrow-minded and unable to think for themselves since they'll just vote for whatever mommy and daddy says. They're forming a generation of passive recipients

 

[DenchDeckard]

This is a good shout! Fuck social media!

 

[DAHGAMING]

We all know that these commies don't ban social media for minors out of good intentions. They clearly don't give a fuck.

They just don't like that right right wing parties gain more and more influence on social media.

This is my view, Starmer hasnt done this because of the reasons he states. He has done it as its harder to controll the content compared to the UK news channels ect. This way they will grow up with a majority left view, exactly what he wants.

Overall I think its the right move, I just dont trust that cunt Starmer has done it for the right reasons.

 

[AJUMP23]

The Brits were mad the Conservatives in power would do nothing about the immigration issues so they voted them out and put the Labours into power. All they did was screw themselves over even worse. And they may never recover.



The most DRACONIAN British PM.

 

[spookyfish]

I remember when the US banned drugs and how successful that was.

Go Keer!!

 

[moogman]

Banning Youtube Kids, so content specifically curated for them is certainly a choice.

 

[Bojji]

I'm pro social media ban for kids (brain rot) but for ALL social media, how something like BlueSky (pedo trap) is allowed for some reason?

 

[Brazen]

Let's ban all knifes but certain ceremonial knifes used to murder are
Par for the course.

 

[MayauMiao]

I agree with the ban under 16s but giving Bluesky a free pass means this ban is nothing but a political ploy.

 

[Draugoth]

Let's ban all knifes but certain ceremonial knifes used to murder are
Par for the course.

I was about to post this.

This is bad. Really, really bad. Instead of forcing parental controls to be on at all devices, or teaching parents how to set up parental controls, they are limiting free speech.

Everybody in the UK will be forced to send their IDs to shady third party companies.

YOTI, the biggest ID verification company in the UK was caught sending people's information to Stripe and the authorities.

 

[Signalis]

 

[Zacfoldor]

Also, you want to toughen up your kids. One day you won't be there and they will be exposed to the world eventually. Best to prepare them for that.

You can protect them into being too soft and they will not be ready for the harsh reality of the real world. Also they will be ignorant to the world the way someone who has social media isn't. Also will they ban ai for them too since AI is really also a form of social media. Somehow they think this is the right idea:

Their kids won't be as prepared as kids who don't have this crazy law. I get the idea, the goal to protect them but you have become overprotective and you choose to protect them not with knowledge but with ignorance. An ignorance that will inevitably follow many of them all their lives. Terrible idea. When you do things for kids, think at first do no harm. Removing a vital educational source from kids makes them dumber. Imagine if my AI couldn't comb reddit. People who make these laws don't understand computers much less the Internet.

 

[Bojji]

 

[RafterXL]

I'm pro social media ban for kids (brain rot) but for ALL social media, how something like BlueSky (pedo trap) is allowed for some reason?

Because it was never about protecting children, it's about protecting themselves. They want to turn the UK into Resetera, where everything is banned but the approved narrative. This entire thing is just a way for the government to groom children into believing what they want them to believe and voting in the way they want them to vote. Banning only parts of social media proves as much.

I mean, if they actually gave a fuck about children they'd do something about their rape gangs, other than try and cover it up, this is political power move, nothing more.