This is the universal playbook: begin with something that sounds reasonable, protecting a vulnerable minority. Set up a mechanism for verification and control, then gradually (or suddenly) make it apply to everyone.
Teens have ALWAYS been angst-ridden, and barring re-engineering our DNA, they most likely always will be. Any interventions, when necessary, should come from family and friends, not from the government, which has repeatedly proven beyond all doubt that its motives are always about restricting our freedoms.
I think that you hit the head on the nail when you talked about the practicalities of age-verification. I agree that there’s not a whole lot of benefit to allowing Meta multiple copies of everyone’s drivers licenses (or other age/personal verification documents). However, I disagree with the premise that social media is “the public square” that all should be allowed to access. Social media is not equivalent to the internet generally, they are products designed by private companies with terms and conditions just like any private product or private property. The idea that anyone is having their freedom of speech imposed upon because they can’t post on Instagram is a product of a heavily online modern culture that treats the online sphere as equal to the physical space sphere, when they are distinctively different. For example, you don’t have to have exist on Instagram, but you have no choice in existing in a body.
Great piece, Zoe!
"Supporters argue these laws target only minors."
This is the universal playbook: begin with something that sounds reasonable, protecting a vulnerable minority. Set up a mechanism for verification and control, then gradually (or suddenly) make it apply to everyone.
Teens have ALWAYS been angst-ridden, and barring re-engineering our DNA, they most likely always will be. Any interventions, when necessary, should come from family and friends, not from the government, which has repeatedly proven beyond all doubt that its motives are always about restricting our freedoms.
Well written and well thought out.
I think that you hit the head on the nail when you talked about the practicalities of age-verification. I agree that there’s not a whole lot of benefit to allowing Meta multiple copies of everyone’s drivers licenses (or other age/personal verification documents). However, I disagree with the premise that social media is “the public square” that all should be allowed to access. Social media is not equivalent to the internet generally, they are products designed by private companies with terms and conditions just like any private product or private property. The idea that anyone is having their freedom of speech imposed upon because they can’t post on Instagram is a product of a heavily online modern culture that treats the online sphere as equal to the physical space sphere, when they are distinctively different. For example, you don’t have to have exist on Instagram, but you have no choice in existing in a body.