Most technical adults I know are in some stage of trying to revert their internet usage back to the offerings this bill would allow through. The less than 1 million users careveout is HUGE— allowing for the power of small forums, federated socials, etc. seems like a great bill unless you’re trying to exploit young people.
ipnon|3 years ago
Mezzie|3 years ago
I have some concerns about this bill and tactic. For example, even if it worked as intended, would we see an uptick of problems in 18 year olds' use of algorithmic social media as they're suddenly away from home/out from under their parents' supervision and given access to a bunch of exploiting content? It's similar to how the first two years of driving are more dangerous regardless of when those 2 years take place.
And as somebody who was 12 when COPPA went into effect, there are unintended consequences of banning minors from platforms:
1.) They lie, so either that's going to be commonly known/accepted OR a giant millstone around the neck of any existing company. This makes it a lot harder to pick out accounts that belong to minors, which makes it harder to both research and protect kids.
2.) Related to that, if you're breaking the rules by being in a space, you are way less likely to speak up. If you're a 15 year old who lies and says you're 18 to be on whatever social media platform, then if somebody harasses you, you're less likely to report it because it would get your account banned.
That's not even mentioning what something like this would do for the edge case of kids who genuinely are artists or content creators.
garrickvanburen|3 years ago
The power of small forums exists today - inside larger platforms that through aggregation have been able to corral the resources to persist.
Smaller forums falter and fade fairly easily (source: having admin'd them).