Let there be no mistake, any social media ban, anywhere in the world is the first step in a short walk to a ‘compulsory’ digital ID system and all of your data, everthing about you, being owned and used by the government and any organisation willing to buy it, exchange it for services rendered, or hack and steal it.
To access social media, those of us not covered by the age restriction will have to prove our age. How? With a government-approved ID, e.g. driver’s licence, passport or some new form of ID*.
There is no need for a government-imposed social media ban for children and teenagers. Parents can already do this – if they want to.
VPN bans won’t work. There is much simpler and free way to access ‘non-eN-Zed’ based sites that can’t be banned or blocked.
If governments want to protect children from online harm, they can educate the children and their parents. I like the idea of having a Smartphone Licence/Test regime, like driver’s licences.
What is social media? Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Truth Social, email, texting, most web-based games include a chat feature, youtube, eBooks, blog sites, vlog sites, news sites that include comments…,
If social media is so harmful to children, are movies, books, and free speech that may include hurty words also being banned? Classroom and playground discussions?
Just like alcohol bans, those who really want it will cheat or lie, by ‘borrowing’ an older person’s ID.
*Any new form of ID is likely to include extended biometric data, and it would be simple-tech to require the device to cross check the digital ID’s biodata with the real time user, e.g. eye scan, face recognition, finger print scan… every time tbe user wants to access their social media.
All websites and apps are a form of social media. So it’s a short walk to require a user’s biometric data to access everything online. Or offline. Jobs, financial transactions, education, healthcare, travel, voting records..
So in the name of a social media ban for children, disguised as ‘we care about children’s mental health’, governments will soon have every web-user’s web-use information. And it’s one more short step from there to Google having you, I mean your data and browsing history and geo-locations… Google, and Apple and… anyone willing to pay, or work with, or steal from/hack the government.
Have you heard of Palantir?
eN-Zed 