It’s not clear that this actually addresses a root problem.

A lot of right-wingers support this sort of thing, but is it really the government’s job to make these decisions about people’s kids?

You also have to go back to the core principle: no democracy government ever did anything good for anyone.

CNN:

Australia’s parliament has passed a world-first law banning social media for children under 16, putting tech companies on notice to tighten security before a cut-off date that’s yet to be set.

The Senate approved the social media ban late on Thursday, the last sitting day of the year, following months of intense public debate and a rushed parliamentary process that saw the bill introduced, debated and passed within a week.

Under the new law, tech companies must take “reasonable steps” to prevent under-age users from accessing social media services or face fines of nearly 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million).

It’s the world’s toughest response yet to a problem that has seen other countries impose restrictions but not hold companies accountable for breaches of a nationwide ban. The ban is expected to apply to Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and X, but that list could expand.

Wtf is “X”?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told legislators that “every serious government” was grappling with the impact of social media on young people, and the leaders he’d spoken to had applauded Australia’s initiative on the issue.

“We know that social media can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers. And worst of all, a tool for online predators,” he told Parliament on Monday.

A poll by YouGov conducted this month showed that 77% of Australians support the under-16 ban. The survey was conducted in the second half of this month and sought the views of 1,515 people with a margin of error of 3.2%.

Now the law has passed, consultation is expected to take place before the government sets a switch-off date. After that, all children under 16 with accounts on social media platforms subject to the ban will have them deactivated.

Parents and children won’t be penalized for flouting the ban, but companies will need to show that they’ve taken reasonable steps to keep under-age users off.

See? They’re not even punishing the people who violate the law, they’re just restricting the companies themselves.

It does not seem like a serious thing.

“It’s pathetic”

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young attacks the social media ban as a “headline” that “doesn’t do what they say it will do”

WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/3D7BP5rmYP pic.twitter.com/m2DLga9jIg

— 6 News Australia (@6NewsAU) November 28, 2024

BREAKING : Australia has just banned anyone under the age of 16 from using social media

This was NEVER about people under 16 using social media. This mandates all social media users use their ID to login to use social media. No more anonymous accounts

pic.twitter.com/gBqw1aGl6S

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) November 28, 2024

DIGITAL ID – Australia lets the cat out of the bag!

In order to ban under 16s from social media, EVERYONE will have to have digital ID or they won’t be able to get on the internet

It wasn’t a conspiracy theory was it 🔥

pic.twitter.com/yN07eSf3dy

— Bernie (@Artemisfornow) November 11, 2024

Why can’t Americans ban things in the name of social harmony?

Do the people who run America hate society and harmony?

If so, why?

Is it because they’re Jewish? 

The Guardian:

Nepal has said it will ban TikTok, citing negative effects on the country’s “social harmony”.

The popular video-sharing platform, which has around a billion monthly users, has faced restrictions in many countries for alleged breaches of data rules and for the potentially harmful impact on youth of some content.

“The decision to ban was made today, and relevant authorities are currently addressing the technical issues,” the minister for communications and information technology, Rekha Sharma, said on Monday.

Sharma said the decision was made because TikTok was consistently used to share content that “disturbs social harmony and disrupts family structures and social relations”. She did not specify what had triggered the ban.

Last year they banned it in holy sites

Hours after the decision was made public, videos on the ban had thousands on views on TikTok.

Gagan Thapa, leader of the Nepali Congress party which is part of the ruling coalition, said the government’s intention seems to be to “stifle freedom of expression”.

“Regulation is necessary to discourage those who abuse social media, but shutting down social media in the name of regulation is completely wrong,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

America talks about banning TikTok, but they do it under the idiotic conspiracy theory that it’s used by the Chinese to spy on people (as opposed to using it to get rich).

Maybe it shouldn’t be banned. People have to have freedoms. But we can’t even talk about what these social media applications – and cellphones more generally – are doing to the society.