Kids Are Outsmarting Social Media Bans—and That's Exactly Why the Bans Fail
Kids are outsmarting social media bans. That's not a problem we need to solve
France, the UK, and the EU are pushing age restrictions on social media, but Australia's 2024 ban shows four in five teens under 16 still get onto blocked platforms. Researchers from the Center for Democracy & Technology and Cornell argue that circumvention is a signal, not a nuisance: bans suppress developmentally important access, push kids toward less-moderated spaces, and force everyone to hand over sensitive ID data. They call instead for limits on data-driven engagement and flexible parental controls.
Just as cities are sketchiest when they are not bustling, the most risky platforms for young people are those with the fewest eyes on the digital street.
- Eueudhsbsj32
Yes, it is. I don't want to live in a country where everything is illegal but not enforced (until someone in power dislikes you).
- schappim
My kid (with a little help from Claude) ended up creating his own social network just to get around the bans. The name of his network makes his opinion of the bans pretty clear. For his birthday, all he wanted was his domain name and and "merch pens" printed with the domain on it. I suppose I'm proud!
- softwaredoug
The real solution to this has always been education. Teach the kids about social media the way we teach about drugs and sex. It’s in many ways more ubiquitous to many teens than the other two these days.
(Oh and regulate the companies, not what consumers are allowed to do)
- rich_sasha
Do we actually know the bans aren’t working? TFA quotes a study in Australia based on self reported use.
In Poland, every now and then they publish self reported results on teenagers’ sex life. It usually turns out something along the lines of, 70% of 12 year olds have had 5+ partners, do not use any protection and took part in at least one orgy.
I can imagine the bans aren’t working but maybe asking teenagers "are you doing the cool banned thing" is not the right way to determine that.
- prologic
If this is the cokamany bullshit Child Safety Act that the AU Gov put in place with the social media ban and age verification shit™ -- I knew this would happens inevitably. The whole thing was stupid as fuck. Not a single one of us that _actually_ work in this industry were consulted to ask whether we _thought_ this was a good idea, no sir. -- Be careful my fellow Aussies, or we end up letting the government build the Great Wall of Australa!