The Electronic Frontier Foundation has stated that age-verification requirements harm privacy by requiring greater collection of personal information from users of all ages. The group said that banning social media could also prevent children from accessing useful content.
“In addition to being a place where people can share funny videos and engage with insightful content, social media enable young people to engage with the world in a way that goes beyond their personal circle, as well as finding information that they may not feel safe accessing offline, such as about family abuse or their sexuality,” the EFF said in March when the discussion was taking place in the UK. “By cutting off this connection to people and information by banning social media, politicians are forcing millions of young people into a dark and censored world.”
Liberal Democrats prefer age-rating system
Liberal Democrats MP Victoria Collins said the proposal was “grossly inadequate”. Instead, he said, the UK should force tech companies to address addictive algorithms and harmful content.
“That’s why the Liberal Democrats have put forward a social media age-rating system that, rather than a blanket ban, puts the onus on the social media giants to clean up their act and provide protection by design for us all,” she said.
MP Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, said the “social media ban is well-intentioned” but “is unlikely to work given the mass adoption of VPNs. It would also mean the introduction of a backdoor digital ID. The real answer here is handsets for children with limited features.”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took credit for the decision on the under-16 ban by Starmer’s Labor Party. “It’s fantastic news that the Government has finally woken up to the dangers of social media for young people… huge credit goes to MP Laura Trott and my shadow cabinet for relentlessly fighting for this. Conservatives welcome this latest Labor U-turn, and will continue to work for the best implementation of the policy,” Badenoch said.
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