You know what's a really, really bad thing?
Terrorism.
It's so bad that we've passed laws against it sixteen times since 2000.
And we still end up locking up old ladies for holding a sign.
But I'm sure banning something really terrible like "Looking at the internet" will work out fine.
this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2026
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Kids, be sure to never vote for anyone who let this happen.
No one should support anyone pushing this, it's not about the kids but locking down the internet and surrendering their citizens to silicon valley's palantir type companies to make secret social scores on everything you do or say or look at, based on their half baked metrics.
Should we attempt to regulate how social media companies operate, educate children and parents on the possible harm and how to avoid it, or do anything with the goal of just improving the way technology is used?
No, we'll just ban it. Something that has famously always worked well.
In a way this makes me a little sad. I met my wife via IRC, I built long lasting relationships with random people I met online when I was a teenager; I learned so much about programming and Linux/BSD/Solaris from online forums of people that took time to help my dumb ass out. All of that same potential to be swept under the rug because of trash like TikTok and Facebook.
They’re not banning IRC or forums, though?
As far as I (a non-British person) can tell the actual proposal hasn't been released yet so: nobody knows.
I do know that I wouldn't count on them doing a good job of defining what "social media" is; and if we're being honest then IRC, Usenet, forums, and Lemmy should all be included in that definition as they are all forms of it.
I started coding when I was 10 (yea, I know, that's earlier than usual, but still!) and I learned so much from programming forums and mailing lists that I think it's safe to say my entire career would be on a very different or VERY delayed path if I wasn't allowed access to those until I was 16.
Sorry, you must be old enough to pilot a multi-thousand-pound vehicle at highway speeds before we let you learn about the dark magic that is Perl and awk.
Starmer to unveil compulsory online ID checks by the backdoor, more like.
By the backdoor is right. You will have to go through a private company and show id, then your face to facial recognition, then your asshole for their asshole recognition programs. Fuck this, are we so stupid we don't see what this is actually about?
Just ask Australia how well that went.
Politicians would never admit their wrongdoing.
double-down and do something even more stupid. it's what they do.
good thing the planet spins around and goes around on its own, because they'd find a way to fuck that up, too.
Yea I'm all for it.
It's a toxic place full of political propaganda and dangerous mechanics designed to hack their dopamine systems.
Is it the best option? No. Digital literacy about the effects of spending time online, and being taught what it is they're actually giving their attention would be best.
But this will have to do for now.
If this doesn't happen, we're going to have a whole generation of people who never learnt to think for themselves, have absolutely no impulse control whatsoever and who knows what else.
The ways they find around it, again, are good - because they'll probably be free from agendas by other state actors and profit at their expense.
social media bans are a threat to democracy .
Even if you support this shit, 16 is an absolutely crazy high age. You can vote at 16 but your government thinks you are too stupid to use "social media" responsibly? This is pure stupidity. And to no surprise, the ID verification companies behind this are sponsored by Palantir. This is every fascists wet dream.
Can you read?