To make one thing clear - I am not *comfortable* with kids being on social media, as a personal thing. There are risks, and it’s a toxic thing to be exposed to. I don’t like it.
However, a blanket ban with no support structure for vulnerable children is itself incredibly risky and ill conceived.
Kids *are* at risk online, and they do need protecting. A blanket ban on access without additional support for vulnerable children, those who might rely on social media for help, doesn’t inspire confidence.
Bans and restrictions are more theater than answer, but it’s all Labour knows.
That’s an incredibly naive argument. There are already legislators who want to excuse tech companies from copyright laws while the rest of us still have to abide by them.
This isn’t a rising tide situation. It’s explicitly a “rules for me, not for thee” deal.
The idea corporate AI will be used to liberate independent creators is so fucking trusting it’s almost tragic.
You couldn’t find a more opposite belief from the reality of the situation. Corporations only want to crush independent outlets, as evidenced by them, y’know, doing it for decades.
Yet more evidence that Microsoft’s intrusion into the videogame industry has been a net loss for the medium.
Consume, carve, kill. That’s all this malignant company does.
Never mind that a blanket ban on *victims* doesn’t actually combat the fucking predators, and it ignores other forms of harmful material explicitly targeted at children, like the fucked up shit on YouTube.
Labour’s continued “police the person, not the platform” schtick will fix nothing.
Of course, when it comes to *this* government, I can’t help but suspect the isolation of queer kids is part of it.
Either way, it’s indicative of Labour’s push to control our online rights. It always starts with “save the children.” Always. I’m yet to see it end with that.
The UK banning people under 16 from social media is going to have consequences that shouldn’t be unforeseen.
The idea may feel sensible in a kneejerk fashion, but I really worry about isolating vulnerable kids. Abuse victims in particular might have an outside support network coldly cut off.
I propose we rename the deep sea to Soggy Hell. Everything that’s found down there is some kind of wet demon.