Canada's proposed social media legislation won't keep every child offline, but it doesn't have to. The point is to create friction—and buy kids more time.
I agree that we need to keep kids offline and help them to live in the real world. Friction is good but ideally it would be imposed by families, not the state.
From my perspective, the unanticipated knockon effects of these types of rules lead to things like digital IDs and an empowered technocratic state. Not things I'm super excited about.
I also worry about empowering a technocratic state but leaving it up to the families leaves the most vulnerable kids behind. I've seen kids in dysfunctional families who parents allow them full access to the internet and it's awful.
I don't know the best solution but it has to address the many families who, through neglect or ignorance, do nothing to help their kids from constant, inappropriate internet access.
Though it would be nice if governments actually targeted the tech companies directly.
And then those kids bring it to school where it impacts all the kids. It would be great if we could leave it to families, but the schools are all but powerless to discipline or apply consequences. When other people's parenting (or lack of) results in you having to spend $$$ on private school or watch the light dim in your child's eyes, you start thinking about these issues very differently.
But yes ideally, the government would hold the tech firms accountable and for a start get rid of section 230 in the US. Not sure if Australia or Canada have similar.
I agree that we need to keep kids offline and help them to live in the real world. Friction is good but ideally it would be imposed by families, not the state.
From my perspective, the unanticipated knockon effects of these types of rules lead to things like digital IDs and an empowered technocratic state. Not things I'm super excited about.
I also worry about empowering a technocratic state but leaving it up to the families leaves the most vulnerable kids behind. I've seen kids in dysfunctional families who parents allow them full access to the internet and it's awful.
I don't know the best solution but it has to address the many families who, through neglect or ignorance, do nothing to help their kids from constant, inappropriate internet access.
Though it would be nice if governments actually targeted the tech companies directly.
Yes. Thats the hard part for sure. Kids with no-one watching out for them end up getting hooked. A real problem
And then those kids bring it to school where it impacts all the kids. It would be great if we could leave it to families, but the schools are all but powerless to discipline or apply consequences. When other people's parenting (or lack of) results in you having to spend $$$ on private school or watch the light dim in your child's eyes, you start thinking about these issues very differently.
But yes ideally, the government would hold the tech firms accountable and for a start get rid of section 230 in the US. Not sure if Australia or Canada have similar.
I so wish the US would consider implementing something like this. I can't imagine it happening, but a girl can dream.