I’m asking for public policy ideas here. A lot of countries are enacting age verification now. But of course this is a privacy nightmare and is ripe for abuse. At the same time though, I also understand why people are concerned with how kids are using social media. These products are designed to be addictive and are known to cause body image issues and so forth. So what’s the middle ground? How can we protect kids from the harms of social media in a way that respects everyone’s privacy?

  • ChristerMLB@piefed.social
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    6 hours ago

    Some of it can be accomplished by just setting universal demands for how social media works for all users:

    • ban targeted advertising
    • make it mandatory for companies to ensure algorithms don’t prioritize posts for making users angry, scared or depressed

    Stuff like that. These kinds of regulations don’t involve ID checks, and could take care of a big chunk of the problem.