The UK Government Responded to The Social Media Ban...
So the UK is pressing ahead with plans to ban social media for children under 16 by 2027. After watching the latest update, I have to say this goes further than most people realise.
It's not just YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and X being locked away from under-16s. There are also proposals to restrict things like live streaming for 16- and 17-year-olds, labelled "high-risk" features. And beyond the platforms themselves, the government wants device-level protections baked into our phones and tablets, which could affect services as everyday as FaceTime and messaging.
Now, I care about children being safe online. That's not the argument. The argument is about how we get there. Age verification means Identity checks, and Identity checks mean databases. Once you build the infrastructure to verify everyone's age, it rarely stays limited to one purpose. Adults may find workarounds for now (VPNs are reportedly untouched, at least today), but the direction of travel is clear: more verification, more data collection, more gatekeeping.
The full legislation is expected in the coming weeks, and I'll be digging into the actual report when it lands. If we're going to have this debate, we should do it with the real document in front of us, not just headlines.
What's your take? Protection or overreach?
Watch the full Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX7D7jaWYz8
#DigitalFreedom #Privacy #AgeVerification #UKPolitics #SelfSovereignty #OnlineSafety
So the UK is pressing ahead with plans to ban social media for children under 16 by 2027. After watching the latest update, I have to say this goes further than most people realise.
It's not just YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and X being locked away from under-16s. There are also proposals to restrict things like live streaming for 16- and 17-year-olds, labelled "high-risk" features. And beyond the platforms themselves, the government wants device-level protections baked into our phones and tablets, which could affect services as everyday as FaceTime and messaging.
Now, I care about children being safe online. That's not the argument. The argument is about how we get there. Age verification means Identity checks, and Identity checks mean databases. Once you build the infrastructure to verify everyone's age, it rarely stays limited to one purpose. Adults may find workarounds for now (VPNs are reportedly untouched, at least today), but the direction of travel is clear: more verification, more data collection, more gatekeeping.
The full legislation is expected in the coming weeks, and I'll be digging into the actual report when it lands. If we're going to have this debate, we should do it with the real document in front of us, not just headlines.
What's your take? Protection or overreach?
Watch the full Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX7D7jaWYz8
#DigitalFreedom #Privacy #AgeVerification #UKPolitics #SelfSovereignty #OnlineSafety