Countries Moving to Restrict Social Media for Kids.

A growing number of countries are stepping in to limit social media access for children and teens and it is sparking a major global debate.

Australia has already banned social media for under 16.
Now countries like Denmark, France, Spain, and the UK are considering similar moves.

The goal ? Protect kids from:
• Addiction
• Cyberbullying
• Mental health issues

But critics say:
• It could invade privacy
• It may not even work

So here is the real question:
Should kids under 16 be banned from social media or should we make platforms safer instead?
What do you thinks guys ?

TBH I think we should all be banned from social media. It seems to bring out the worst in people.

To be completely honest, I don't think it's up to the governments of the world to decide how old someone should be to go on social media. It "should" be up to the parents, however, I think we've arrived at the day and age where responsible parenting is non-existent.

With that being said, I do think ANY company that has a website/platform that the public can access should be doing their due diligence to make sure it's safe, it really circles back to it being parents who "should" be controlling what their kids access.

And yes, I say "should" because we all know someone who refuses to monitor or get involved with their kids online presence for whatever reason.

PetraAnn said:

To be completely honest, I don't think it's up to the governments of the world to decide how old someone should be to go on social media. It "should" be up to the parents, however, I think we've arrived at the day and age where responsible parenting is non-existent.

With that being said, I do think ANY company that has a website/platform that the public can access should be doing their due diligence to make sure it's safe, it really circles back to it being parents who "should" be controlling what their kids access.

And yes, I say "should" because we all know someone who refuses to monitor or get involved with their kids online presence for whatever reason.

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I feel the government is using it's platform as the government to protect the next generation else
Such country would be run aground if there is no way to channel energy( human resources now to the right quarters

I heard roblox got restricted in the middle east too and its supposed to be a kids game

As a father (even tough they are only 5 and 1) i do think its a good idea; as a freedom lover and privacy enthusiast i do feel different. Its really hard, and i happy i dont need to decide this. I will be curious how they will move forward and will read into this as soon as something is about to happen in the EU.

its a trojan horse to implement digital id for everyone for social media in the name of protecting kids

I always crack up when people talk to me about child protection, and I’m going to tell you about the situation in France. Apologies in advance—this is going to be a bit long.

In France, we do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to protect kids. If you search for “Lyhanna” in a search engine, you’ll see what I mean. Also search for “after-school programs in Paris.”

That alone will give you a good idea of the situation.

Bullying at school? Search for “Camélia’s suicide.”

Mental health? Do I need to remind you that, to save the elderly, we locked kids down for weeks during the COVID pandemic?

And if, despite all that, you haven’t thrown up on your keyboard yet, I invite you to look into child welfare in France, protective mothers, and so on.

Do you know that in Mayotte, a territory of the French Republic, children can’t go to school every day because Chido devastated the island?

Do you know that this winter, in France, children slept on the streets? Some schools had to shelter families.

France doesn’t love its children; we’re doing absolutely everything we can to destroy them.

This age verification—which will effectively be an ID check—is a step in the wrong direction.

Is it okay for kids to spend hours on TikTok? No. But who’s giving smartphones to children? And what alternatives do we, as adults, have to offer them? Do we organize after-school activities for them? Do we take them to the forest? Do we read them stories? What if we ourselves stopped having our noses constantly buried in our smartphones? Because kids copy adult behavior.

Of course, social media needs to be safer—I agree 100%. But I’m not going to hand over my ID to Musk or Zuckerberg. I’d rather go back to IRC.

Parents should do this on their own, not countries. Just my 2 cents.

bartosimpsonio said:

Parents should do this on their own, not countries. Just my 2 cents.

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I completely agree with you, but my voice doesn't really carry much weight.

ZenWolf said:

A growing number of countries are stepping in to limit social media access for children and teens and it is sparking a major global debate.

Australia has already banned social media for under 16.
Now countries like Denmark, France, Spain, and the UK are considering similar moves.

The goal ? Protect kids from:
• Addiction
• Cyberbullying
• Mental health issues

But critics say:
• It could invade privacy
• It may not even work

So here is the real question:
Should kids under 16 be banned from social media or should we make platforms safer instead?
What do you thinks guys ?

Click to expand...

This "one-size-fits-all" approach is not necessarily a good thing. The government should seek the opinions of parents.

Kids should not see unmodereated content. Social media algorightm should focus on kids safety and mental health.

india said:

Kids should not see unmodereated content. Social media algorightm should focus on kids safety and mental health.

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Or maybe parents should stop buying smartphones for their kids and letting them spend all their time on TikTok?
Social media is a commercial tool, not a daycare center.

I would prefer to built for under 16 age platform only technical oriented similar to BHW along with video section edu purpose and Lounge for fun talk

Will it see widespread adoption?