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.
This will require a driver license for every social media account. Adios anonymous political discourse.
Probably just a side effect no doubt.
I love the party of “small government” fighting to control what websites your children can visit. You know it’s the same people that spent all of 2020 and 2021 screaming about how they shouldn’t be forced to wear a mask or get a vaccine.
I think they underestimate how capable kids are of making their own damn platforms. With blackjack and hookers.
This is Gen Alpha we are talking about. They have displayed less IT/programming/computer literacy awareness than even Gen Z. There will have to be a new computer Renaissance era to pop up, otherwise they are going to have to ask their Gen Y/X family to do it.
They have displayed less IT/programming/computer literacy awareness than even Gen Z.
Have they? I see plenty of them out and about doing all the same shit Millennials and GenXers were doing 30 years ago - building computers from parts to save money, fucking around with electronics and sticking leds on everything, experimenting with python and downloading shit off torrents, and occasionally bricking a phone because they did something to the firmware.
I also see folks insisting 10 year olds should have the same experience as a college grad, which is a bit weird. But I’m hard pressed to find these bad-at-computers Gen Zs/As.
I remember when the genX generation said that about me.
Sure may have been right about 90% of folks, but the 10% that were wrong… I absolutely did figure out a lot of script kiddie shit that got me in trouble and now as a “lazy millennial” doing cool shit.
And just how do they intend to enforce this?
Facebook is already requiring photo ID verification in order to unlock your account when it thinks you’re a bot. They could just do this for all users and then it’s at least a pain in the ass
good. Social media is poison on young brains
Then don’t let your kids on it. Don’t take away other people’s freedom of choice.
thats a choice they should not have
Because that’s what young people need, more ways to be excluded from society and isolated.
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.
The old Internet was somewhat anonymous. The pervasive tracking and enragement algorithms made it so that nearly every platform is someone’s real identity. I’d argue that’s what’s a mistake for children…having them on Internet platforms attaching their real name and identity to online bullshit.
100%! That’s been my solution to date. In order: Keep kid offline Keep logged out If required, anon af username etc, never repeated across apps or games
The government shouldn’t regulate what information someone is allowed to consume. If a parent doesn’t want their kid on social media, that is their choice. The answer is simple to me, stop taking away people’s freedom of choice.
Okay. I get that argument. But it’s not a response to my comment. I’m talking about making sense of nuance and you’re responding broadly about all people. Okay… so… anyway… about my actual conundrum…
Fwiw you can make that argument about csam and snuf. Whether illegal to post, you would opt out of a world where that stuff is blocked?
it’s so, so sad what’s happened to Florida in the last 4 years.
it’s so, so
sadinfuriating what’s happened to Florida in the last 4 years.FTFY
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?
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?
I would have killed myself without unmonitored internet access, and many other teens are in the smart boat, the same ones Republicans want to kill
There’s no evidence that this would help. If anything, it would hurt.
What’s your policy solution or position?
There’s already a mechanism for bad parenting: take their kids away.
I’m not responsible for bad parenting, and it’s not an acceptable reason for bad legislating.
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.
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.
You can’t regulate your own children, so you think it makes sense to try and regulate all children.
Whatever dude. Stop trying to pass laws “for the children”. It’s b.s
I’m not sure if you’re intentionally being obtuse or you just didn’t actually read my original post above. Either way, I’ll invite you to take a second read.
You can jaywalk all day
Is it illegal?
Yep, at least everywhere that I have lived.
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.
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.
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.
Fuck off with the ID bullshit
I have a place you can shove your ID idea. Want me to show you?
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.
How is that even a remotely accurate comparison?
It’ll work, but it is complete overkill, and has far more harmful side effects than benefits.
Exactly what harmful side effects are there here? It makes blocks and bans more effective, it significantly cuts down sock puppeting and mass botting, it renders engagement manipulation much more difficult, and it requires literally zero 1984 surveillance state shit, I mean unless you’re one of those quacks who thinks a state ID is 1984 surveillance shit despite it literally just making literally everything about securing state services more accessible including obtaining licenses and benefits.
literally just making literally everything about securing state services more accessible including obtaining licenses and benefits.
When did “blocks and bans” become a “state service”?
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
How do you suggest Claifornia Liberals stop Florida Republicans from doing this? Floridians literally voted for this to happen in their own state. If anything I say go at it and van all the kids up to 18. That’ll make sure a lot of them get pissed at Republicans and vote against them out of spite. I feel sorry for them because they can’t do anything to change it but maybe once they’re old enough they’ll be able to.
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.
imo, all parents should limit or restrict it.
In general, perhaps—but in this case, restricting kids from social media will just increase their exposure to Florida.
Simple, it’s not really about the kids, it’s about control of the internet.
They learned from FOSTA that people will not fight internet censorship bills if they’re targeted at vulnerable minorities.
What if their parents are controlling and abusive?
They don’t want their kids to be able to figure out how fucked Florida is.
I somehow doubt most kids under 16 are that versed in local/state/national/global affairs. Nevermind that they can’t vote.
Mote and more are these days, since they have access to information and directly impacted
This is just another act of cutting off kids from information.
I feel like someone said why bother banning books at school when they can just access that information online? And they said you’re right, let’s figure out how we can ban that too
They just don’t want teens communicating so they don’t tell their friends when they get SAed
Wtf? What kind of conclusionsis that?
Same as the ones who said once abortions are illegal, rape would go away like COVID
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
And I’m sure this won’t be like those “click here if you are over 18” buttons that I definitely never clicked when I was underage. Nope. We all know kids aren’t rebellious.
And they definitely wouldn’t lie about their birth date to make an account
Wait… a bill from Florida that isn’t malicious? Someone pinch me.
/s ?
Oh shit, I misread. Thought it banned social media from implementing addicting algorithms. Whoopsie
It is malicious…
Can’t believe I’m gonna say this but…good job Florida?
Yeah, I’m not used to this emotion either.
