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Social media ban for youths, compulsory online identification for everyone. Remember that the next time someone gets in trouble for calling a politician or CEO a butthole.
more like backwards, since its mostly about political surveillance and suppression on dissident behaviours.
Ban the malevolent algos. Fuck age identification.
Thanks, ban addictive algorithms for the rest of us too next.
Yes, please!
Another typically disappointing move. Ban the websites, not the users, you goons.
Tech illiterate imbeciles are approving laws again...
Though I share your concern regarding possible censorship and information restrictions etc, according to the article:
"After approval by the Senate earlier Tuesday, members of the National Assembly passed the bill by 279 votes to 81. "
This is a very high approval rate in favour of the bill in France , where they can't almost agree on anything. Also, according to this eurobarometer:
" The risk of cyberbullying or harassment that children face on social media (mentioned by 71% of respondents) and the risk of online grooming or sexual exploitation that children face on social media (70%) are the biggest concerns of Europeans".
So this appears to be genuinely on the agenda of most Europeans.
So this appears to be genuinely on the agenda of most Europeans.
The detrimental effects of social media are proven in many peer reviewed publications. No one is debating that. But why the hell does everyone have to cut back on their personal freedom to mitigate those issues? Big tec created a monstrosity of an algorithm manipulated internet to maximise their investment opportunities and somehow no one is putting the responsability on them to remove their own digital cancer from our society. Instead we get to feed the algonet even more of our personal data to make the issues even worse. That's the shitty part.
Big tec created a monstrosity of an algorithm manipulated internet to maximise their investment opportunities and somehow no one is putting the responsability on them to remove their own digital cancer from our society. Instead we get to feed the algonet even more of our personal data to make the issues even worse
That's because EU failed to respond in time* and algonet now forms important part of our economy. Governments and service rely on those "free" services and banning them would cause large scale disruption. They don't want to do that so they try to regulate it instead.
*The failure to respond is understandable because EU is not a tech company. Their job is not to compete with tech companies by offering alternatives, their job is to legislate. So Europe didn't create the tech and infrastructure needed to offer those services and not people rely on facebook, whatsapp and google in their daily lives. Vast majority of these people don't support banning those services but don't mind giving them their IDs. That's why government chose this solution. The laws they pass require public support and the public prefers ending anonymity online to losing social media entirely.
the public prefers ending anonymity online to losing social media entirely.
The public is made malleable through systemic cannibalisation of the education sector, weaponisation of the media, and corruption of representatives. That's why we have Trump in the US or the AfD in Germany. "The public wants this" hasn't been a valid argument for some time now. There is a right and wrong in some situations and this is one of them.
“The public wants this” hasn’t been a valid argument for some time now.
No idea what that's supposed to mean. It's' absolutely a valid argument as long as we live in democracy. Every time the governments try to do something that goes against the malleable public support for AfD, Vox, Konfederacja and so on grows. They have to constantly thread the line between meaningful reforms and fulling support for the populists.
There is a right and wrong in some situations and this is one of them.
Yes, then can be right and lose the next elections making things even worse. This is primary school level view of politics.
A democracy only works if everyone has access to the same education and information. Public opinion doesn't matter if it can be shaped at will. What you call democracy is an oligarchy in sheeps clothing.
I'll stop responding now because you've become condescending for no reason.
A democracy only works if everyone has access to the same education and information. Public opinion doesn’t matter if it can be shaped at will. What you call democracy is an oligarchy in sheeps clothing.
Ok, so I guess politicians are no longer elected and we can all stop voting.
"For four months, all of us in France will have to prove our age," she told journalists.
That's the shitty part.
It absolutely is shit. It's at best a medicine to treat a symptom. Not the disease itself, though imho trying to reign in the "algorithms" haven't really worked so far. Especially since it only wants to spread, and the enshitification gets only worse.
In a better world, there would be better options. But this isn't (yet) that world unfortunately.
Yeah, probably a problem most people in the world are aware of and concerned about, however IMHO this doesn't seem to be aimed at solving it.
A good initial step.
Is it? How do you think they're going to enforce it?
It’s like with videos, DVDs, games. Or alcohol, tobacco. People say “oh that can’t be enforced” - but the age restriction does have an effect, a tremendous one even. The enforcement-argument is a pretty weak argument, people who use it usually have another (hidden) agenda.
I'm not saying "it can't be enforced". We've already seen that it can be. I'm saying the enforcement invades everyone's privacy and will lead to the end on anonymity online.
That’s where we heading anyway, anonymity was a nice to have, but it didn’t work out well.
So fuck all the marginalized people, then? No more safe spaces, no more queer kids being able to figure out their identities.
I’m sure they will be able to use pseudonyms.
The internet we are heading toward is one where all accounts have to be verified with a driver's license or other state-issued ID. That is the only possible way age limits could be enforced. Even if a website promises pseudonymity, one data leak stands in the way of everyone's wallet names getting linked to their online accounts.
Further, age limits actually mean that no, queer kids won't be able to use pseudonyms anywhere -- they won't be able to use any form of social media that might contradict their parents' ideology.
I know a little about queer kids, as a business coach I’ve coached many queer organizations. There are nowadays so many offerings, a quick search through the internet will bring you into contact with professionals willing to help. And the support you get is certainly better than what you get on social media, even here on Lemmy some of the “advice” by “experts” is substandard, and on top of that, a queer kid may think they are talking to a 13 year old, when in reality it is a 65 yr old MAGA… enjoying his anonymity. (Grooming is actually one of the reasons for getting rid of anonymity).
Okay. Do you understand that not all places have professionals to talk to? Or that some kids don't have the freedom to ask their parents "Hey can I go see this gender psychologist"? Or even that talking with peers can be better than talking with some nebulous "professional"?
Your last point is why kids need to be taught basic internet safety. We need less exposure of identities online, not more.
(Edit) I see you replied to me with a one-liner and then deleted it. No, I don't have kids. Have you ever been a queer teenager with fundie parents? And do you teach your children not to give out personal information to strangers?
Don't reply to me again if you're going to ignore everything I said.
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
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