Two states (not surprisingly Red states) Florida and Georgia are restricting access to to parts of the Internet to minors. This is not good!
Get your VPN subscriptions paid up and ready. You clearly can see where I stand on this.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports the following:
Last week, two federal appeals courts issued opinions that will allow Florida and Georgia to start enforcing laws that will age-gate and block young people from accessing social media. The laws do not adequately respect minors’ rights to play, speak, and learn online. More fundamentally, these laws don’t help young people stay safe online—a goal that lawmakers should pursue.
Because of the new laws, some young people will lose their ability to access lawful information, find their online communities, and even engage with school board members. Others will need parental permission to stay online. And adults will face increased demands to prove their age, which will put their privacy at increased risk simply to continue to use the services they already use.
Look, I’m a very left-leaning individual, politically. I believe that kids need to be safe online and off. But I’m not a fan of these draconian laws being passed across the globe.
I’ve always said, that when it comes to the Internet/Web get off my fucking lawn and let me deal with it. A rather Libertarian-stance coming from someone like me.
It should be the parent’s responsibility to keep their kids safe online. If I want my kid to be able to watch Rated R shows on streaming services, that’s my choice.
I’m not a huge fan of these wide reaching and overly broad laws that also impinge on the the privacy of adults as well.
I agree with the EFF as they go further:
We opposed these laws because they threaten the free expression and privacy of both minors and adults. Even though these lawsuits are not over, the injunctions that paused enforcement have been lifted, and the states of Florida and Georgia will now be able to enforce broad restrictions on social media use.
Here’s what’s going to happen in Florida and Georgia:
Some youth who lose their social media accounts will lose contact with friends. Others will lose access to a support group, the ability to speak out on current issues, or an audience for their artwork. More young people will be shut out of discussions about what’s going on in their school and their community. U.S. law has long recognized that people under 18 have their own rights to speak and receive information. These new laws interfere with those rights.
Like I said it’s so much more nuanced than just blocking kids from social media sites. These age-gates block people from their communities and are a risk of security breaches.
This is a bad idea all around and hopefully the courts and law makers realized this.
What do you think. If you come on the side of that asshat Jonathan Haidt, we need to have an intervention.
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