A bill enacted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis forbids minors under 14 from opening social media accounts. In contrast, minors between the ages of 14 and 15 may do so with permission from their parents. Considering that this law is looked upon favorably by many in the United States and committees are being set up in various states to implement such laws, irrespective of political inclination, this is an interesting development in the policy space. The law passed during the final week of March is considered significant and should be fascinating for all the kids who struggle with focus.
DeSantis said that the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression would be used to fight the statute. He also lamented the fact that an appeals court consisting primarily of judges nominated by Republicans had recently overturned the Stop Woke Act, which he had signed into law two years prior. They decided that prohibiting private companies from discussing racial inequity in employee training violated the right to free speech. We will avoid getting into the electoral politics of this matter and instead focus solely on the policy considerations, given the legitimate concerns that individuals may have over DeSantis's perceived ideological inclinations and the potential for such a policy to violate the right to free speech and expression.
Users of popular social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok must be at least 13 years old to use these platforms. This restriction is a result of regulations in many countries that forbid the acquisition of children's personal data without parental agreement. Nonetheless, a 2022 poll conducted by the nonprofit research group Common Sense Media discovered a rise in consumption among kids between the ages of 8 and 12. There is a global movement to protect children from social media addiction in addition to the United States.
The "Guidelines for the Establishment of Minors' Modes for the Mobile Internet," a cross-platform, cross-device, government-led parental control system that Beijing has methodically laid out, were announced by China in August 2023. It is about to develop a comprehensive "minors' mode." The guidelines are extremely specific. For example, children under the age of eight are only allowed to use smart devices for forty minutes a day and can only access content about "elementary education, hobbies and interests, and liberal arts education." After the age of eight, children are allowed to use screens for sixty minutes a day and can access "entertainment content with positive guidance."
Similar restrictions apply to gaming in China, where the maximum duration is three hours. A 2022 poll by Niko Partners, a research organization that specializes in the Asian games sector, found that 77% of young gamers had cut back on their weekly gaming time. Tencent reported a sharp 96% drop in gaming hours and a 90% drop in gaming spending in 2023. Beijing is currently working toward a standardized technology framework that will enable organizations, including the government and for-profit tech firms, to have virtually complete end-to-end control over specific adolescent users in domains other than gaming.
Beijing's government has more experience with privacy issues than Florida's since it has already established a thorough national identification verification system, which gaming and social media companies use to find accounts belonging to minors. It is also more resolute in determining what information is inappropriate for minors and more cozy. Ultimately, though, it's the same technological framework that shields kids from harm, restricts speech on the internet, and gathers a ton of personal information. What adults should read and what children should watch is decided by the same paternalistic mindset.
Source: National Review
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