Australia passes social media ban for under 16s

[phenomlab]

An interesting topic for debate. I totally support and understand the genesis here, but my question is, how do you realistically enforce it? I suspect there is typically an age barrier of sorts, but how to do you circumvent the obvious, such as lying about your age in order to access?

https://news.sky.com/story/australia-passes-social-media-ban-for-under-16s-13262282

[JAC]

@phenomlab I’m all for it, it’s refreshing to read but yes actually enforcing it is a different ball game altogether.

[phenomlab]

@JAC yes, i just can’t see how it could possibly work.

And this simply bolsters the point

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4v52ezx17o

And LinkedIn has something of an amusing response

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dz2z72y8o

[JAC]

I agree it’s going to be incredibly difficult to pull off and I just don’t see how they’ll manage it, however I hope they do of course!

[Madchatthew]

This would be really difficult to pull off and then what are the punishments if they are say caught being on social media by circumventing the preventions that are put in place? I am wondering if maybe doing a lot more education on social media for teenagers. Since we are in the day and age where you can’t get away from social media, why not educate and make it so if there is online bullying there is a punishment for that. I mean kids are kids are kids and they are going to find a way to get past the obstacles. Kids are made for that. Like when you don’t want a kid to open a kid proof bottle. The adult can’t open it, but the kid will have it opened in three seconds type of thing.

Maybe education with you need to take everything that anything posts as a grain of salt. And don’t take everything personally and if someone says someone said this about you, then just go to that person and ask them and come up with a solution. I don’t know that banning this type of thing is very helpful.

I understand the thought behind it, but it seems like that is just putting a band aide on something that should be taken care of and nurtured and healed.

[phenomlab]

@Madchatthew said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

This would be really difficult to pull off and then what are the punishments if they are say caught being on social media by circumventing the preventions that are put in place?

I din’t think they’ve thought that far in to be fair!

@Madchatthew said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

I am wondering if maybe doing a lot more education on social media for teenagers. Since we are in the day and age where you can’t get away from social media, why not educate and make it so if there is online bullying there is a punishment for that.

Yes, but you have to consider the maturity level of the users themselves. Most will see it as a joke, and therefore, the original message is severely watered down. If adults can’t take it seriously, then neither will kids.

@Madchatthew said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

Maybe education with you need to take everything that anything posts as a grain of salt. And don’t take everything personally and if someone says someone said this about you, then just go to that person and ask them and come up with a solution. I don’t know that banning this type of thing is very helpful.

My concerns are around those who may be vulnerable. You read about this on too many occasions where kids are easily influenced by what they see on social media. By this, I mean photoshopped images of what the perfect body looks like, and what kids should aspire to. Because they have no real means of meeting this criterion, they see themselves as having failed and take drastic action to make amends.

@Madchatthew said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

I understand the thought behind it, but it seems like that is just putting a band aide on something that should be taken care of and nurtured and healed.

Yes, I agree. It’s like locking the door after you’ve been burgled.

[Madchatthew]

@phenomlab said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

I din’t think they’ve thought that far in to be fair!

Yeah that sounds about right!

@phenomlab said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

Yes, but you have to consider the maturity level of the users themselves. Most will see it as a joke, and therefore, the original message is severely watered down. If adults can’t take it seriously, then neither will kids.

Yes, this is a good point. Maturity level plays a huge part for all ages.

@phenomlab said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

My concerns are around those who may be vulnerable. You read about this on too many occasions where kids are easily influenced by what they see on social media. By this, I mean photoshopped images of what the perfect body looks like, and what kids should aspire to. Because they have no real means of meeting this criterion, they see themselves as having failed and take drastic action to make amends.

Yes, this is a good point as well. This is commonly seen everywhere and in all advertising and now worse all those things are specifically aimed at them as well just to make a buck without the repercussions of the advertisers action, knowing full well the damage they are doing to youngsters.

The thing is, is that they are going to have all these things in place and they are still going to get on social media and see the exact same things as they do now and the governments’ and tech companies will just be basically making it look good on paper when in reality it is just to cover their asses when they know there is still going to be a problem.

[phenomlab]

@Madchatthew said in Australia passes social media ban for under 16s:

The thing is, is that they are going to have all these things in place and they are still going to get on social media and see the exact same things as they do now and the governments’ and tech companies will just be basically making it look good on paper when in reality it is just to cover their asses when they know there is still going to be a problem.

You can have policies and procedures for everything - but they are just “documents” and are not legally binding in any form unless subject to a regulator and regular auditing of those controls. Otherwise, they mean absolutely nothing.

[Madchatthew]

@phenomlab yeah that is true, then does it come back to why bother doing it in the first place other than to look good when they don’t care about it in the first place. Not to sound harsh or negative. I think it is probably a good idea, as long as that banning doesn’t expand into other things and include a wider range of individuals. If I am saying that correctly.

[phenomlab]

@Madchatthew to me, it’s feels like they are doing it because they have been asked to - not because they actually want to.

[Madchatthew]

@phenomlab I agree with you, otherwise they would have already done that.